According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, you can now enjoy full-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese guilt-free.
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center have found that dairy fat contributes to a lower mortality risk and presence of cardiovascular disease. The study included 3,000 participants and results showed that participants with higher fatty acid levels, thus those having consumed whole-fat dairy products, had a 42% lower risk of dying from stroke.
This is in line with what our founder, Dr. Sam Simon, has been saying all along – with so many readily available fat soluble vitamins available in whole milk, why choose anything other than what nature intended? Our whole milk is non-standardized and over 4% fat – meaning just as the cow produced it, we bottle it. Simple, natural, fresh. Got local milk?
Posted February 13th, 2024 — Filed under News
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When a five-star restaurant prepares a dish, they take great pride in carefully sourcing ingredients, selecting only the finest inputs to create a delicious meal. For coffee shops, the attention to detail should be the same! Do you know where your milk comes from?
Lattes generally consist of 60 mL of espresso and 300 mL of steamed milk – that’s a lot of milk! At Hudson Valley Fresh, we proudly produce award-winning milk for customers who value the principle at the core of our farmer-owned cooperative: quality.
Dairy quality is objective, factual, and highly tested. Every trailer of milk that leaves the farm is tested for quality. You measure dairy quality via leukocytes, or somatic cell counts. Just like humans, when a pathogen or infection is present, cows white blood cell levels rise. A lower somatic cell count (SCC) level therefore indicates better animal health.
The legal limit of SCC to sell milk in the United States is 750,000 cells/mL – all ten of our family farms had to demonstrate verified quality tests under 200,000 cells/mL for an entire year before being accepted into Hudson Valley Fresh, and today, our farms are averaging 130,000-150,000 cells/mL. That’s just a fraction of what is “allowed.” Truly, quality isn’t an incentive for our farmers, either, it’s a standard. If a tank of milk does not meet our strict quality standards, it is not bottled under the Hudson Valley Fresh label.
We are constantly testing for quality!
Our ten family farms win annual regional milk quality awards, and several have gone on to win “Super Milk” and even National Dairy Quality awards – one of our farms, Tollgate Holsteins, has been recognized as one of the Top 6 Herds in the Country a total of SIX TIMES. How do we do it? Attention to detail, cleanliness, focusing on cow comfort, and feeding high forage diets. Our farmers take great pride in the quality of the product they produce, and work hard with their families to produce a safe, nutritious, high quality product that other families may enjoy too.
A lower somatic cell count doesn’t just mean healthier cows, it also means a higher quality, creamier product. When cows are healthy, comfortable, and low-stressed they give off a higher quality, sweeter milk. Our whole milk contains more naturally-occuring Omega-3’s than other commercial milks, with no need for synthetics! Recent research has shown numerous benefits for this very important fatty acid.
Why else is our milk ideal for baristas? Our whole milk is not ultra-pasteurized and non-standardized, meaning it is >4% butterfat, just as the cows produce it! Pasteurization is the heating of milk to kill off any potential bacteria. From a food and consumer safety standpoint, all milk being sold off the farm must be pasteurized. At Hudson Valley Fresh we minimally pasteurize – meaning we heat milk to 145 degrees F for 30 minutes – for a farm fresh taste instead of heating it to higher temperatures in order to extend shelf life.
Because of the forage rich diets, how we manage our cows, and the unique blend of all five major breeds of dairy cattle, Hudson Valley Fresh whole milk is naturally creamier than most commercial whole milks, which by definition must contain at least 3.25% butterfat. Rather than skimming off what we don’t “need” to keep in the milk, we pass along the rich, nutritious >4% butterfat whole milk to our customers exactly as the cows produced it.
Whether it’s some cream in your morning cup of coffee or whole milk used for creating incredible latte art, we are so appreciative of all our customers out there who care about quality, who care about where the farms are, who care about supporting local, family owned and operated farms and who recognize and appreciate the #hudsonvalleyfresh difference!
Ever wonder what it’s like to grow up on a dairy farm? We created this fun collection of photos to share a glimpse of what life is like for a farm kid. Hope you enjoy!
If you’re a farm kid, you’ve probably taken a lot of family pictures in a barn or field.
teaching lessons about hard work and patience along the way…
showing cows is a family tradition in the Beneke family
Hudson Valley Fresh is honored to represent these ten family farms – moms and dads, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters – just like your family, only maybe a little different.
Thanks for reading! To learn more about all of our family farms, visit the Our Farmers page.
What’s it like to be a cow on a Hudson Valley Fresh dairy farm, you ask?
Our farmers strive to ensure that the cows in their herd are healthy, free from pain or discomfort, and are as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Every day throws new challenges at our farmers – be it due to the weather, having to get work done in the fields, or something breaking down at the absolute worst time – regardless of these challenges though, a good farmer always puts his or her cows first.
On our farms, cows are milked twice per day, roughly twelve hours
apart. Most milkings start between 3 and 4 AM. Our animals are grouped together
by age and status in order to manage them better and feed them more accurately
for their physiological requirements. In the mature herd this means the milking
group is kept in one group, while the dry cows are kept in a separate group.
Bill Kiernan, patriarch of Walt’s Dairy located in Copake, NY pictured with a group of Dry Cows
What’s a dry cow? A dry cow is a mature cow who has had a calf in the past but is not currently producing milk. Cows need to have a calf in order to start and keep producing milk, but between having calves, and after being milked for about 10 months out of the year, they are “dried off” and given a 2 month break from producing milk. This break usually involves a fresh pedicure by the hoof trimmer and lots of rest and relaxation.
How do we keep so comfortable? For starters, each stall has
a comfy mattress topped with shavings to absorb moisture. It’s not a Queen-sized
Serta with thousand count sheets, but the cows enjoy them just the same.
Keeping these stalls not only comfortable, but clean and as dry as possible, is
a huge factor in producing a premium quality milk.
Fresh feed, water, and a comfy stall at Stormfield Swiss in Wappingers Falls, NY
FUN FACT – One of our farms actually uses sand for bedding – what’s more enjoyable than lying on the beach?
Lying time is an important measurement that our farmers take note of – cows on our farms lie down for over 10 hours a day, which is just how we like it! While cows only sleep for two to three hours a day, a 1400 pound animal that is lying down is able to put more energy into producing a higher quality milk and more of it!
Another important part of keeping cows comfortable has to do
with the environmental temperature. Cows have thick skin, which means they prefer
colder temperatures and dislike the summer time heat and humidity. Our farmers help
keep the girls cool by providing lots of fans, plenty of water, and sometimes
use sprinklers and evaporative cooling as extra measures. When cows are hot,
you can tell – they pant, stick their tongues out, and they often don’t want to
eat as much, which means their milk production goes down. We therefore find it
very important to keep the barns cool and animals out of the direct sun as much
as possible.
We’ve talked about comfort a lot. How do we keep the cows
healthy? A lot of it has to do with the same reinforcement of close monitoring,
and preventative holistic care. Our farmers work with these animals every day,
from 3 AM often until well past dark. If something is off in their behavior,
feed intake, or gait, our farmers recognize it. It’s not just any one individual,
though – successfully managing cows is a team effort. Our farms have teams,
including family members and often employees that are treated like family
members, that are all on the same page when it comes to having high quality
standards and putting cow care first. We also work regularly with licensed
veterinarians and highly trained dairy nutritionists (dieticians for cows) to
ensure that holistically, we are aware of everything we can be of what is going
on in the herd and how we can do better. Whenever a diet change or a
homeopathic method of remediating something is an option, we are all for it.
Do you still have more questions?Reach out to us to talk to one of our farmers, or better yet, meet one of our farmers in person! Several of our farms will be hosting Open Farm Days this Fall where you can get a tour of one of our farms, meet the cows, and maybe even enjoy a hayride with a scenic Hudson Valley view. You can also always find us at the Dutchess and Columbia County Fairs, where we can talk about our passion over a fresh, Hudson Valley Fresh milkshake from the 4H booth.
As your neighbors, as fellow parents, and as fellow members
of your community, we look forward to talking about what we are passionate
about with you in the future – producing premium quality milk and farming in
the Hudson Valley!
