All About How Now
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Sadly no. Neither do Biodynamic milks. We are the only farm to our knowledge in Australia that keeps calves on the cows and shares the milk.
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Kind milk is made with cow and calf as the priority. We don’t kill baby (bobby) calves to produce our milk, we value all life. Calves are not separated from their mothers, keeping loved ones close. Our cows are hormone and antibiotic free, kinder for them and for you.
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How Now is about asking “How Now” should we farm? Does economics win over ethics and compassion? We believe that one does not need to come at the expense of the other.
It strikes us that if we blend the right mix of old fashioned animal husbandry with great science and modern technology, dairy farming can very much be conducted on the cows’ terms. We have had hundreds and hundreds of conversations with other people who care equally about animals and the lot of the dairy cow. How Now is for that kindred spirit, and providing them with the chance to make choices that sit comfortably.
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We accept payments from major credit card companies like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
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We have just 1 farm in north of Victoria that houses our girls. It's a single family owned and operated business, and we hope to sign on more farms with the same values as they arise.
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We are proudly small and independent, and connected to our local communities and intend to stay that way. We will never be a part of big manufacturing: our farms will never be the big cold-hearted production systems some dairy farms have become. We are going back to basics in one way, but looking to the future in another.
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It’s a misconception that a calf can drink all the milk her mum produces. In reality, a mother cow produces much more milk (13-16 litres) than a baby can drink a day (3-4 litres), and if that extra milk is not released, aside from being extremely uncomfortable, the udders can get infected. Our calves always drink first from their mum's
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We usually start weaning around the 3 month period, when a calf can start gorging which isn’t good for them. Over a further 3 month period we extend the time the calf spends away from its mum.
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As an unadulterated product, with cream on top, oxidisation continues in the bottle.
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We don’t often have male calves as we use Artificial Insemination, which allows us to select the gender of the calf. Any males we do have are raised the same way by their mum's side.
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No, we do extended lactation with our cows, so unlike traditional dairy, we don’t put cows back in calf immediately. Instead they enjoy their time with their calf and when the calf is fully weaned we give mum a few months to just relax and take stress off her body, then we will put her in calf again.
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As we calf generally every second year, our numbers don't increase like they would on a normal dairy farm. All of our calves are raised with their mum's, drinking only their mum's milk. every year or so we process a few 3-year-old on the farm. No animal from the How Now herd never leaves the farm.
All About Ethical Milk
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Cows are sentient beings and as such, humans can push them around without too much fear. Lactating is what a mammal does when it has offspring. Because the calves are removed and the mothers are immediately milked, this keeps the flow of milk going. Yes, they most definitely grieve their calf that disappears. I have heard many stories of bellowing cows going on for weeks on end trying to locate their calf. It is also how we know.
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No, this is a story that the regulating bodies (Dairy Australia) tell everyone to be able to keep farmers removing calves at birth.
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Good question! Whilst a lot of farms say their cows are grass fed; they still use a percentage of grain to supplement the cows' diet. This has been attached to a lot of dairy intolerance. On our farm, we use our own pasture hay (which is just dried grass) for the winter months when nothing grows. This ensures our cows are well fed, but maintains our closed loop.
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Yes, our cows have wonderful trees in most of the paddocks. The ones that don’t have ample shade we avoid on hot days.
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Yes we agree, a sick cow should be given treatment. We just find we rarely need to use antibiotics as their health is so good and they aren’t under stress like normal dairy cows.