ARE RAW FARM COWS A2?
HERD HEALTH IS OUR MISSION
Here at RAW FARM, we proudly have had 100% A2 herd breeding for the past 10 years (or longer). We do not promote a full 100% A2 herd because as part of our Certified Humane Certification and program standards, we do not slaughter our healthy cows simply on the basis of A1/A2 status. We DO breed with only A2 bull genetics, but we will not slaughter a healthy animal simply just because she tests as an A1 cow breed. That goes against our values and mission. Our values and conscience is if our cow is healthy and happy… she lives happily on our farm (A1/A2 or not).
We do strive to only have A2 milking cows; however, a healthy cow is never slaughtered based on her A1/A2 status.
Overall, our focus is on a healthy herd. WE ARE PROUD OF Our CUSTOM Food Safety, Testing, and Herd Health Programs. AS GENETICS PLAY A ROLE TOWARDS FINDING THE BEST HERD, IT IS NOT OUR ONLY FOCAL POINT.
HOW MANY BREEDS DO WE HAVE?
Our herd is made up of many breeds, and cross breeds of each breed. Here is a rough breakdown of our happy, healthy herd:
Holstein
Jersey
Normande
Montebeliarde
Guernsey
Milking shorthorn
Scandinavian Red
Brown Swiss
Fleckvieh
Cross Breeds (mix of two different cows listed above)
RAW MILK A2 vs PASTEURIZED A2
Pasteurized A2 milk is STILL ultra processed milk. Very dead. Raw milk is alive with bioactives with a very long list of immune and health building proteins, enzymes, fats, sugars with a diversity of good bacteria. A2 UHT in comparison to raw milk (regardless of A2 or A1) is not comparable regarding to benefits.
When you Google “bioactives in unprocessed milk” you hit the health jackpot!
A2 UHT (ultra high temp pasteurized) is difficult to digest.
The only good A2 milk is RAW A2. Pasteurized milk is destroyed.
WE LIKE UNIQUE BREEDS
Our breeding selection is based on what makes the healthiest calves and future heifers to replace our cows. For the most part, we breed our Holstein cows and heifers back to Holstein, our Jersey’s back to Jersey and our Normande and all other breeds back to Normande. We pick only the best sires that are confirmed A2A2, have great grazing traits, high components, good calving ease, and healthy calves (Immunity+).
It’s really hard to even find rare cow breeds, like Normande.
We are selecting breeding genetics that are imported from France (via Minnesota) just to maintain that genetic bloodline. I make this extra effort to source Normande bulls because I love Normande cows for their high Cappa Cesein proteins that are unlike any other milk from a cheese making and cultured product standpoint. Normande cows are excellent grazers and have a good balance between milk volume and high component. The semen is very hard to get ahold of and about 30% more expensive than Holstein or Jersey, but worth the investment in the long run.
Our herd has been bred to only A2 bulls for over 10 years and we can now say we have only A2 bred cows (not DNA confirmed but guaranteed bred from A2 bulls for over 4 generations of cows).
