The Bovine Bugle

A change in clinic day for the cows raises a question for the farmer

Our herd vet, Steve Wadsworth, stopped by today to talk with me about changing our monthly herd clinic. Another vet service in the area had recently closed shop and his vet association is picking up some of that service's clients, putting a strain on their already busy schedule. Steve was changing his schedule to make it more efficient with less running around, while still meeting his clients' needs.

He had stopped to see if I would change my scheduled monthly clinic for a second time because of another farmer's concern over losing their clinic on a certain day. I said of course, that would be fine. Because of our small, laid-back operation we are very flexible and I would do what I could to help out Steve. What really bugged me was the main reason why this other farmer didn't want to change the day of his clinic. It had to do with his breeding progam.

Like many farmers in the dairy industry, this farmer is using a program of timed hormone shots to bring their cows into estrus for breeding. The cows are no longer allowed to cycle normally and come in to estrus on their own. Farmers rely on hormone shots to get their cows bred. Add in the shots of BST to get their cows to produce more milk, and shots of antibiotics with no milk witholding time for any little problem, and I start to get really scared about the milk from conventional farms being put on the market for the consumer. It makes me feel even prouder of the product I produce for Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm to sell to the consumer who knows how important it is to choose organically produced food for their families.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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