I'm really happy to be be writing this post to report that after an arduous search we have finally located the dairy that will provide milk for our soon-to-open coffee bar. Noris Farms in Scio, Oregon is an organic dairy run by an Austrian-born couple Angela and Franz who pratices 'old world' animal husbandry.
Some of the unique pratices of this farm are their refusal to use artificial insemenation (all cows are bred with bulls). Calves are not immediatly removed from their mother and are raised on real milk not the usual milk substitute. And my favorite pratice is that after the cows milking cycle (about 5 years) the cow is not sold for beef; they are retired to pasture where they live the remainder of their life (about 15 years!) until they die of old age. "You wouldn't sell your grandmother." (actual quote)
This place is awesome. Heather and I went out to the farm to check it out and it was really amazing to see how much they really care about their cows. Supporting farmers who are really trying to do things differently feels great.

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Trouble in Kenya.


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