BTW this is a great case study to talk media literacy for farms. If someone says "the guvmint is out to get them," sometime's that's bc they keep getting themselves in legal trouble! Don't take claims at face value. Fact check! www.marlerblog.com/case-news/ra... - ThreadSky

sarahtaber.bsky.social • 3 days ago

BTW this is a great case study to talk media literacy for farms.

If someone says "the guvmint is out to get them," sometime's that's bc they keep getting themselves in legal trouble!

Don't take claims at face value. Fact check!

https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/raw-milk-llc-a-k-a-organic-pastures-linked-again-to-an-e-coli-outbreak/

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sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

If you can, get a look at their farm.

I looked up Mark McAfee's farm on Google Maps & was surprised to see that his "grass-fed dairy" is a bog standard, feedlot-style large commercial dairy.

With over 1,000 cows standing & lying around on what we call a "dry manure pack" in the biz.

sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

But of course, Google Maps can be misleading. Sometimes it's wet & muddy so you have to take the cows off pasture for a few days.

Great news! He had an influencer come do a video tour of his farm, so we can get a better look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW5rXqmLMwE&t=40&authuser=0

sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

Looks like Google Maps was NOT misleading. This "innovative grass-fed raw milk dairy" is, in fact, a normal large commercial dairy. Exactly the kind of place many would describe as an "industrial factory farm."

The cows are in a shed with a feed trough. With a big empty green field behind them.

sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

Here, he's explaining that he keeps the cows under shade to protect them from heat stress "during the hot part of the year." Grazing in the heat stresses cows out because it's too hot.

This is 100% true! It's not humane to graze cattle in high heat!

sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

The thing is, this is Fresno. The "hot part of the year" is..... most of the year.

That's why most central CA dairies work this way. They keep cows in the shade & feed them alfalfa hay & corn silage in a trough.

So marketing himself as a "pastured grass-fed dairy" that's "different" is a CHOICE.

sarahtaber.bsky.social•3 days ago

Ok, so the "grass-fed" advertising didn't hold up.

But surely when he says his farm is "clean," "innovative," and "up to extra high hygiene standards because we sell raw milk," he can't be kidding about that. Right?

Right?

silvercat17.bsky.social•3 days ago

As someone who goes through Fresno regularly, and lives somewhere in SoCal with a similar climate, with normal dairy farms nearby, I'd like to clarify "most" and "hot". It's over 90F something like 10 months of the year, with low humidity

moxieonabeach.bsky.social•3 days ago

We drive through this area when we’re heading south. Just the smell alone burns your throat. DO NOT DRINK THIS SLOP RAW PEOPLE!!!

thetallsister.bsky.social•3 days ago

Simple.. just like with horses— they loaf in the shade (in stalls or sheds) during the day and out to pasture at NIGHT.

helicobacterio.bsky.social•2 days ago

This is another debate, cows can be grazed in the heat, as long as are breeds that have evolved to cope with those resources and climate. The problem is that these breeds are “less productive” so husbandry has to be adapted to make them cope. Most modern dairy breeds originated in Northern Europe…

spoonbread.bsky.social•3 days ago

😲

silvercat17.bsky.social•3 days ago

Anything I know about farming I learned from the Silver Spoon manga and it emphasizeh that animals are dirty and milking needs especial cleaning. (The author, Hiromu Arakawa came from a dairy family)

polyparadigm.bsky.social•3 days ago

The dent corn plants that grow the seeds that make up most of the diet of these chickenized cows is, technically, a species of grass (zea mays)

hentaikid.com•2 days ago

Barely an influencer, those videos have tiny viewership figures.

Thank god, I guess.

chrisquixote.bsky.social•3 days ago

Is there a standard for “grass-fed”? I assume hay counts as grass. But does the diet have to be entirely grass/hay, or just like 51% hay, or 0.01% hay? Or is it just meaningless marketing verbiage?

sarahtaber.bsky.social•2 days ago

There's no standard for grass fed or pasture raised- they're meaningless buzzwords anyone can use rn.

I did find a record of him making a comment to the USDA organic program about the pasture rule (to be organic, a dairy has to have cows on pasture X amount of time) which is kinda funny.

ruralanarchy.bsky.social•3 days ago

If a dairy doesn't improperly use the word "Organic" with it, or a qualifier like "100% grass-fed", the label "grass-fed" is pretty much unregulated. So like, if the cow eats grass sometimes... it's grass-fed!

Basically marketing. I think meat *might* be a bit more regulated, but not 100% sure.

ruralanarchy.bsky.social•3 days ago

Using the word "Organic" without being certified Organic is a big no-no, but most other terms like grass-fed or "natural" or "pastured" are marketing without strict regulations on use.

ruralanarchy.bsky.social•3 days ago

Oh, and "free range" just means chickens aren't in battery cages and have access to outside. And that outside can be a covered concrete patio that's technically "outside" the main barn, even if the overcrowded chickens can't fight there way to the door of the "outside".

ba55fr33k.bsky.social•3 days ago

.. its not a single farm

Your 'reporting' is inaccurate, as is your assessment

terrifiedstill2024.bsky.social•3 days ago

Damn

mbletst.bsky.social•3 days ago

... surely actually having the cows in an actual field of grass would be easier than whatever this is. in florida, it feels like every open space next to the highway has a few dozen cows on it (for tax reasons, natch).

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