Our dairy supplies high-quality, raw milk to make our farmhouse cheddar, while educating about sustainable farming and the working landscape.
Our Brown Swiss Herd
- 110 milking cows. Each produces about 50 pounds of milk a day for 10 months a year.
- The breed was selected by Derick Webb in the 1950s for its hardiness, foraging ability, milk quality, longevity and temperament.
- Cows are bred to calve all year, with most calving in the spring (March, April, May), and in September, October.
- We raise our own heifers for milk, and some bulls for dairy beef and purebred breeding stock.
Our Grass-based Dairy
- Our herd is pasture-raised and rotationally grazed from spring to fall. We grow hay and silage without crop herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizer.
- The Dairy is Certified Humane by the Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) organization in Herndon, VA.
- Our milking parlor, constructed in 1995, is a double-12, mid-line swingover design. It allows virtually uninterrupted milking, with 12 cows lining up on each side of the pit.
- One person milks about 45 cows an hour; the entire process of milking usually lasts three hours, from set up to clean up. We take extra time to prep cows to ensure the highest quality milk for our cheese.
