a safe supply of milk

You probably heard about the FDA's recent milk drug residue sampling survey. 

Just kidding. You probably didn't. 

But you should have. 

Before you start scrolling to read the last paragraph (you can't fool me! I work in Communications.), know this: The report found that the nation's milk supply is safe and so are those of you who drink it.

I don't need a report to tell me that. I see it every time I'm at the dairy. 

But for those of you who don't, well, you need to hear it from the people who care for the cows that produce that milk.

Healthy milk starts with healthy cows, and healthy cows stay healthy when farmers take care of them.

How do you stay healthy? In part, you probably try to eat fairly well and in moderation. 
(We won't talk about those donuts at work last week.)

It's not much different with cows. They stay healthy because they eat well too. At our farm, our nutritionist routinely checks and adjusts the cows' ration, making sure that it's high in the nutrients the cows need to stay healthy and produce quality milk. 

And what happens if, for some reason, you start feeling a little punky? You go to the doctor, who may prescribe some antibiotics to get your system back in working order before you're out sick from work for a week blowing your nose and wearing the same pair of gross sweatpants for four days straight. 
It's the same way with our cows: we use antibiotics when needed to ensure that they're on the mend quickly, because let's face it, cows HATE sweatpants.

Chris here.  I'll explain the next part.  Here's where things are different: When a cow is treated with antibiotics (let's say she was horsing, er, cowing around and cut her leg and it got infected), she immediately is moved into an isolated pen that we call...the Hospital Pen.  The milk from these cows never enters the food supply.  These cows get milked separately and their milk doesn't get put in the tank and never, ever goes to the store.  Milk is tested numerous times for antibiotics, both on the farm, by the trucking company and at the bottling plant.  If it tests positive for antibiotics at any point in time, the milk is destroyed, and the farmer foots the bill.

 All milk that goes to the store has tested negative for antibiotics.  It's all safe, all the time.  If the bottling plant  finds a sample of milk that tests positive, that doesn't mean that there are antibiotics in our food supply.  It does mean that we have a good safety net in place to ensure that positive milk is detected, destroyed and never reaches the consumer.

So here's the good news: In 2014, the FDA sampled 37,707 grocery store cartons of milk and didn't find a single solitary instance of antibiotics. 
And they didn't find any in 2011 . . . or 2012 . . . or 2013. 


These sorts of things are sources of pride for us and sources of comfort for you.  It's a good deal.  We feed a nutrient-rich ration to our cows. We keep an eye on them. We keep them comfortable. We keep them healthy. And should they get sick, we notice it quickly, treat them with antibiotics, and make doubly sure that milk never touches the inside of a milk jug.

So, take a bite of that donut. Chug that glass of milk. Heck, have two. You can even do it while wearing sweatpants. We can't say we blame you.