Farm Directory

Flat Branch Farm has a small herd of purebred Brown Swiss cows and a Guernsey cross. The cows have 24/7 - 365 access to grass pastures and hay (in the winter) and are supplemented with a locally mixed grain ration during lactation. All cattle disease-tested annually for BLV, BVD, and Johne's. The farm also regularly tests milk for quality and components, per Illinois state guidelines.

Herd shares are available periodically throughout the year and they maintain a waitlist when full. Members may choose pick up their milk on the farm or at one of their convenient weekly drop sites around central Illinois.

Farmer's statement: "Our raw milk journey started in 2017 when we purchased our first Guernsey heifer. These days we have around 60 local families that participate in our weekly herd share membership!"

Green Iron Ranch in Bellville, Ohio, now has goat milk herdshares available. They have a mixed herd of Lamancha, Alpine, and Toggenburg goats. They feed only organic feed and no corn or soy. Pasture and hay is also unsprayed. Shares are a one time fee of $30 plus $10 for additional shares. Boarding costs are $42 a month and provide one gallon of goat milk per week.

Green Iron Ranch are members of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

Reverence Farms has herdshares available in their herd of mostly A2/A2 Jersey cows. You will be able to pick up raw milk from your share. Contact them for details. They have provided an extensive statement about their herd and practices below.

Farmers' Statement:

Reverence Farms is inviting you to join our family farm by becoming a co-owner of Reverence Jerseys. This ownership allows you to enjoy raw milk from a herd of cows that you co-own. Our farm carefully nurtures green pastures, taking sunshine and turning it into the richest and most nourishing milk we know how to make. A friend once told us that he could actually taste our cows’ well-being. “I don’t know how to say this…,” he said shyly, “but is it possible I’m actually tasting that your cows are happy?”

Exceptional care goes into each and every animal, and our beloved cows transform pasture and our locally grown hay — which we make in partnership with retired dairy farmers in our area — into whole, living food.

Our cows are mothers first, and we treat them with the honor that such a title merits. Cows don’t make milk for our convenience — they make milk for their calves, and we allow them to be mothers and for each cow to raise their own calves, including the bull calves. No other farm in the U.S. that we are aware of calf-shares on this scale for both bulls and heifers until they are at least 5-7 months old, respectively. Whatever our cows offer in the parlor is freely given on top of what their calves need to thrive. The calves are separated at night so we can milk their moms in the morning, and they spend the rest of the day together. We don’t own calf hutches (except a couple as dog shelters).

We have a relationship with each animal, knowing them by name from the day they are born, and nurtured for the entirety of their lives. Our herd is an old-fashioned dual-purpose herd, and so you will be able to participate in holistic dairying by eating beef from the herd, as well. (As of right now, this is not part of the herd-share, but will be added later.) Since cows need to have a calf every year or so to continue to produce milk, the exponential growth of the herd requires careful culling and each animal’s life is honored and respected until the last moments. Knowing animals by name makes this act more intimate, but also keeps us humble as to what it really requires.

Suzanne and Hue, owners of the herd, will continue to milk, care, feed and shelter the cows, young stock and calves. You will pick up your fresh, raw milk weekly, and can visit the herd as well. Our herd lives as biology intends: grazing, frolicking, socializing with their herd, having shelter from bad weather, and wide-open spaces to roam and grow. Suzanne and Hue personally shepherd the herd from pasture to pasture, continuing to monitor and husband this unique and beautiful group of varied Jersey cows, that like cows on the Island of Jersey, are all colors.

We have almost entirely A2A2 cows.
Our herd is almost completely A2/A2. We milk 75 A2A2 registered Jersey’s, and two sister cows are A1A2, Pocahontas and Paloma. Vivian, Suzanne & Hue’s daughter who helps care for the cows, particularly loves Pocahontas, who is a cuddle bug.

We are certified grass-fed, grain-free by A Greener World (AGW).
Our herd is certified grass-fed, grain-free and they eat only a combination of fresh pasture and fermented grasses called hayledge or baledge, along with dry hay and occasionally Chaffhay, which is bagged alfalfa. We occasionally use molasses to administer medicine and supplements, as allowed by AGW.

We are certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW.
The herd is certified animal welfare certified by A Greener World (AGW).
We didn’t need to change any of our practices to become AWA certified, and our calf-rearing program leads the industry in welfare and far exceeds the requirements of the program.

We use natural husbandry whenever possible.
Dr. Karreman, veterinarian and co-owner of the herd, sees the animals every single day to insure optimal well-being for our herd’s health and milk quality. We use his herbal formulations as the first line of defense for common illnesses, but we don’t deny our animals life-saving conventional medical treatments, as necessary. We meet or exceed all legal withholding times for medicines. We do not use mRNA vaccines.

We are state-licensed and inspected and voluntarily test for pathogens.
We are a licensed and inspected dairy farm by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. We regularly test the milk at a third-party lab for four common pathogens.

Our cows help us build soil, create a biologically alive ecosystem that provides a robust wildlife habitat and every year we sequester more carbon than the year before.
Our pastures are fertilized with compost and bedded straw from the barn, as part of the regenerative practices that Reverence Farms embraces. No herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, or synthetic fertilizers are used on the farm. Ever.