Sponsored: Caring for the Cows, Part 2

Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian

Sponsored: Caring for the Cows, Part 2

What would you say to people who think that dairy farmers give their cows antibiotics all the time or that antibiotics are in conventional milk?

Bart Ramsey: I'd say they don't understand dairy farming.

With the help of our veterinarian we have a vaccination program to prevent disease. If you're a dairy farmer you have to have a good relationship with your veterinarian. If one cow gets sick they can make the whole herd sick pretty quickly so you really have to watch for that. We don't put antibiotics into the feed of our cows. We only give our cows antibiotics if they are sick and that's all supervised by a veterinarian. If a cow is sick and on antibiotics we have to observe a withdrawal period after treatment with that antibiotic ends. Milk cannot be sold until after the withdrawal period. We also do a snap test of our milk before it's loaded onto the tanker. This insures that there's no antibiotics present in the milk. The last thing you want is for your milk to get to MILKCO where they do more tests . If my milk was to test positive for antibiotics it would be a big mess...the Department of Agriculture shows up, inspectors show up, I'd be fined and I might lose my contract to supply milk to Piedmont Milk Sales temporarily or permanently. The state will take away the permit to sell milk after repeat offenses. I would lose a lot of money so we are very, very careful about that.

What about hormones in milk?

Bart: Cows have to have their own hormones in order to produce milk. It's just like lactating women who produce milk. MILKCO has us sign an affidavit that we don't administer artificial growth hormones and we wouldn't give our cows any artificial hormones.

Interview with Bart Ramsey, Ramsey Dairy Farm, Fairview, NC. See This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for entire article.

Related Items

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN

Ingles Markets Corporate Dietitian

twitter.com/InglesDietitian

facebook.com/LeahMcgrathDietitian

800-334-4936

Tags:

Notes from a plant nerd: In the pines

In the Cherokee cosmology, evergreen trees were gi...

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around...

When it comes to fall leaf color, trees are what c...

There are a few native plants whose names I call o...

SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM

Contribute >

Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian

Partner content: Sensationalism and Seed Oils

These days there’s a lot of negativity about “seed oils”. According to some of the social media “influencers”, seed oils are ones made from: canola, corn, cottonseed, soybeans, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, flaxseed, and sesame seeds.

Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian

Partner content: When Following Food Advice May Not Be the Best Idea

Often we see articles in magazines, posts on social media, reels or videos that feature a celebrity talking about what they eat in a day or week. This person may be an actor, an athlete, or an influencer-- but in most all cases the message is, ‘Eat like me and you could look/perform like me’.