How Our Raw Dairy is Going Above & Beyond For Quality and Standards
New + Exciting Improvements: Making a Stance for Non-GMO Testing
Our Raw Goodness Just Got Even Better
Our family has grown the highest quality pastures and crops since we started our dairy in 1999. We pride ourselves on our sustainable crop growing practices. Our cows and the milk they produce are certified to non-GMO Project Verified standards. For the first 20 years of our family farm, our cows and the milk they produce were certified organic. In December 2019 we changed our livestock and milk product to non-GMO Project Verified with the certification agency of Where Food Comes From. The crops we grow and the pastures we graze remain certified organic, but the finished products (raw dairy products) are non-GMO. The supplemental feeds we purchase are all tested upon receiving every load with our on-farm test strips by our Quality Assurance supervisor, Tony Sanchez, in accordance with the strict guidelines in our non-GMO Project Verified procedures. While our cows are no longer certified organic, we have not changed any of herd treatments, we are still antibiotic-free, rBST free, and we still graze our cows daily.
This is a HUGE step for our brand, and we are proud to serve as the dairy industry’s model for VERIFYING quality and standards. Under the Non-GMO Project, you must TEST and VERIFY each and every single time you purchase feed for genetically modified organisms (GMO). This will only add extra quality and verification to what we believe and stand for. Achieving a non-GMO Project Verified status on our livestock and products was a very comprehensive and rigorous process.
This decision stems from a consumer connection and mission to execute on the consumer demand.
Get pumped because we just got even better in 2021! More exciting things happening this year, for sure! This is just the beginning of more efforts to be even better!
Here at RAW FARM, we have always farmed with eco-friendly, sustainable, and ethical farm practices. We will continue to do so. What is new? ANY purchased feed will now go through a rigorous testing process for non-GMO quality and verification. This will give our farm a higher level of certainty that our cows are getting only the best food for raw milk production. It stems back to us having a mission to listen to consumers, and there is a desire among our consumers to avoid GMOs. We have been asked for over 5 years to become Non-GMO certified for our purchased feed and we are proud to be answering our customer’s requests.
Proud to Be Non-GMO Project Approved
Being Non-GMO Project Approved allows us to have extremely high standards. Our Certified Humane (herd) protocols give us the verification that we are also treating our herd with the utmost kindness and respect. We installed an on-farm GMO testing lab, which allows us to test all purchased feed for the presence of GMO’s, which includes Roundup (Glyphosate) and other herbicide-resistant residue.
Our ability test and verify Non-GMO was a very high priority for our company. We are also proud to buy local feed, therefore greatly reducing carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption.
We continue to follow sustainable practices by pasture grazing our cows year-round on our luscious green pastures. We grow a lot of our supplemental feed on our farm, and we never use antibiotics or hormones and use homeopathic therapies. Any off-farm feed is tested and verified Non-GMO.
The health of our soils, the welfare of our cows, and producing superior quality safe raw dairy products is our highest priority. We are very proud to lead the world in raw milk food safety with our test and hold policy and we are honored to be your farmer.
About Being Certified Humane
Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) is the leading non-profit certification organization dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals in food production from birth through slaughter. The goal of the program is to improve the lives of farm animals by driving consumer demand for kinder and more responsible farm animal practices.
When you see the Certified Humane Raised and Handled® label on a product you can be assured that the food products have come from facilities that meet precise, objective standards for farm animal treatment.
Humane Farm Animal Care operates transparently, publicizing all of our scientific standards so the public will know exactly how animals protected by our seal of approval are treated. The Humane Farm Animal Care Standards incorporate scientific research, veterinary advice, and the practical experience of farmers. Leading animal scientists, veterinarians, and producers worked with Humane Farm Animal Care to develop the Animal Care Standards for humane farming and continue to work with Humane Farm Animal Care to continually review new information pertaining to improving the lives of farm animals.
