Okay, well I must jump in here on the dairy discussion as I am somewhat a
dairy expert and just relocated to the dairy state last week! (Eau Claire
area)

My B.S. is in agriculture and I have been an ag journalist for seven years
with a specialty in dairy. I have worked on dairies and written about many
of them. Dairy farms seem to be quite adamant in not using BGH. Most don't
like it much at all as the overproduction just leads to more problems. And
it is quite costly for small farms to use and they are often the producers
of cheese. If a companies milk says no BGH than you can probably assume the
same for the cheese unless they have separate milk for the cheese which is
not necessarily the case.

Not sure I understood the Q & A at the petting zoo. What I do know is that
cows are bred to give birth and produce milk. Babies are usually left with
the momma cow for anywhere from 12-48 hours so the calf can get colostrum.
Then baby calves are taken from their mothers and fed either artificial milk
or milk that is being withheld from the milk tank for antibiotic withdrawal
time. The whole deal is supply and demand. The cows are milked, either twice
or three times/day, and this keeps their supply up. Babies are taken away
from their mothers only so WE can get the milk. Of course that is only for
production farms. If this was a private person with just a momma and baby
calf for fun I don't see why the calf wouldn't be nursing. Because sometimes
there are calves who are put with momma cows that aren't being milked just
so she can keep her production up just like we would. Supposing she might be
too sick to be milked and they don't want her to dry up.

So I don't really see what was being said at the petting zoo. Never heard
that cows would produce too much for the baby. But then that is what dairy
farming is all about. They continue to breed cows for better production for
human consumption not for calf consumption. But I would think that
production would adjust itself unless the momma is a "super cow"  and produc
es magnificent amounts, which does happen.

Lot of variables here. Did this make any sense?

Patti
(dairy journalist, aspiring LC, mother of three, nursing mother of 18-month
twins)

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