Dairy Links
Paul is very enthusiastic about yogurt!
Paul rolls the fresh yogurts from the incubation room to the cooler.
About Our Dairy
Sidehill Farm yogurt starts with just two ingredients — the sweet, high-protein milk from our grass-fed cows, and a blend of probiotic cultures.
We believe that the best way to produce tasty and healthy yogurt is to start with excellent milk, and the best way to do this is to raise healthy, happy cows. Because our cows graze fresh grass after each milking, and eat very little concentrated feed, our yogurt is high in omega 3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid, and other proteins, vitamins, and minerals necessary for building a healthy body.
We do not add fish oil or industrially produced additives to increase the omega-3 count of our yogurt. Neither do we add pectin, starch, or other food industry thickening agents. The texture of our yogurt is reliant on natural cultures working with the high protein milk of our Normande and Jersey cows. At midsummer, when there is a dip in the protein level of the pastures (and therefore the milk) we add a small amount of organic dried milk powder to keep the yogurt firm.
Of course, we do add some natural ingredients to our flavored yogurts. All sweetening of Sidehill Farm yogurt is with real maple syrup, produced by our neighbors in Ashfield and nearby towns. And we use certified organic extracts and fruit to produce our flavored yogurts. These are all ingredients that we feel good about and enjoy eating — and we hope that you do, too!
Dairy
Because we have not yet met most of our yogurt customers, and had the opportunity to earn their trust, all of the land that we manage for the dairy is certified organic. This means that our cows graze exclusively on organic pastures, and approximately half of their winter hay is certified. We also feed a small amount of organic grain as a treat at milking time. The remaining winter feed- dry hay and haylage- we choose to buy from neighbors, rather than trucking in certified organic hay from hundreds of miles away. Why? Cows eat a lot of hay in winter — 40 to 50 pounds per animal, per day. All of this bulk translates into truck space, and thus into a lot of fuel burned, to move the stuff around. We cannot see that moving dried grass from state to state is a high value use of fossil fuels, especially when our neighborhood includes talented farmers who produce good quality, pesticide-free hay.
If certified organic hay becomes locally available, we will probably buy it, and at that point Sidehill Farm yogurt and raw milk will become certified products. Until then, you can rest in the knowledge that during the milking season, the cows are grazing organic pastures, and eating locally all winter! Learn more about our yogurt and our raw milk.