A New Cash Cow

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Although he never used hormones (only about 15% of conventional dairy farmers do), Letourneau did rely on some antibiotics to prevent mastitis (yes, breast-feeding moms, cows can get it too), so he had to find new ways of managing udder health. He's glad he did; he's convinced that his herd is stronger for it. Before the switch, he was spending about $200 a month on barn calls from the vet and had to retire about 20% of his milkers every year — more meat than his freezer could hold. These days, his cull rate is down to about 7%--for conventional dairy farms, the average cull rate runs about 33%--and the vet hasn't paid a visit in three years.

"It's because they drive their cows so hard," Edwards explains. He fishes around his barn's medicine cabinet, pulling out vitamin pills and aspirins the size of a man's thumb. There's a "microbial supplement," to help digestion, and Uddermint, a cream made with peppermint oil for soothing sore teats. At his feet is a jug of aloe-vera juice, which he'll shoot down a cow's throat to help relieve stress. That morning he whipped up a brew of rice water, garlic, salt and beef bouillon to treat a calf with diarrhea. To go organic, he says, "you have to be open-minded. Fear is what holds a lot of people back. Fear of change."

Those who take the leap usually say they're glad they did, according to Jack Lazor, an organic farmer in Vermont since 1976, who has helped dozens of others get their start. "They try it for the money, and then six months later, they say they'd never do it any other way."

Letourneau counts himself among the converts. He studies his cows as they munch on the lush green pasture, a native mix of clover, timothy, orchard and bromegrass. He's talking about cutting back on his contract work; he wants to concentrate on his own farm and not work so hard. With all the healthy young stock he has got, he expects to be milking about 70 cows (up from 36) by this time next year. "I want to be able to retire in nine years," he says. That would certainly take some of the load off his arthritic knees. For now, though, there's haying to do.