Organic milk better for cows, farmers

Following up on the story from yesterday about the difficulties facing conventional farmers who are afraid to switch to organic I found an interesting story in The Oneida Daily Dispatch. The article follows the story of two New York dairy families who made the transition to organic. Both were sharing how glad they are to have made the switch:

Brown milked conventionally for 11 years at his Eaton farm, Pilgrim’s Progress. He switched to organic in 2002 and sold 42 of his cows because he could make enough money milking 35 cows.

Brown said a main reason he began farming organically was his concern about the “dangers” of non-organic farming. He said organic practices are healthier for consumers and beneficial for the environment.

“That’s the way I think God intended us to farm, not with chemicals and hormones,” Brown said. “The hormones conventional milkers are giving cows go into the milk, and our sons and daughters are drinking that stuff.”

“It started to upset us because we realized what (conventional) farmers are feeding America,” Martha Jean said. “Eventually, we feel there will be a result from this.”

[Full Story]