WESTPORT — Sandi Porter says that, despite reports to the contrary, there is nothing wrong with drinking raw milk.

Saturday, she opened her goat farm to the public and told visitors why.

Lyons Brook Farm at 76 Drift Road was one of nine farms statewide open for free tours as part of Raw Milk Dairy Day, organized by the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

Porter raises alpine and nubian dairy goats at her small farm on the Westport River, and sells the raw, unpasteurized milk to the public.

WESTPORT — Lyons Brook Farm will be one of nine farms open for free tours and other activities Saturday as part of the statewide Raw Milk Dairy Day, organized by the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the farmers and learn why raw milk tastes good, why it is a healthy food and where it comes from.

Raw milk is unpasteurized milk. Lyons Brook Farm is a small goat milk dairy on the Westport River that raises registered alpines and nubians. Raw milk is sold at the farm.

Greenfield, Ma - The Hope and Olive Restaurant will be hosting Free Soup and Game Night to support the state's dairy farmers. The fundraiser will be held Monday, August 3 from 5pm-8pm and promises to be a fun-filled evening for the whole family. The event is sponsored by the Dairy and Livestock Program of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.(NOFA/Mass).

Hardwick – A workshop on transitioning to organic dairy farming and the services offered by the Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) will be held at Robinson Farm in Hardwick on Saturday, June 21st from 11am " 2pm. The workshop will be led by Ray and Pamela Robinson who are the fourth generation operating this family farm. They currently provide customers with raw milk and milk/grass fed veal, certified organic eggs, perennials. vegetables and hay. They graze their 40 cow herd on their own organic pasture, using the cows to naturally improve the soil and sustain the land.

Sterling, Mass " A workshop on Small Ruminant Management will be held at Crystal Brook Farm, 192 Tuttle Road in Sterling on Wednesday, June 4th from 10am " 1pm. The workshop will be led by Ann Starbard who owns the farm. Topics to be discussed will include mixing browse with pasture, managing parasites, using trace minerals while pasturing, watering systems and fencing. Crystal Brook Farm is an award winning farmstead that began making cheese in 1998. It now produces about 12,000 lbs. of fresh goat cheese each year from a herd of 70 alpine and Saanen goats.

Rocky Acres Farm in Warren will host a workshop on transitioning a dairy herd from winter to summer feed on Tuesday, May 6 from 10am-1pm. Bob Richardson, who has been operating the farm since 1976, will lead the workshop. He will discuss the issues around deciding when and how to move cows from winter to summer feed, as well as selling raw milk. Meghan Moody from Blue Seal Feeds will be on hand to discuss the work she has done with Bob on ration balancing and forage/hay testing.

More than 180 additional land care professionals are now practicing organically throughout New England and beyond, following the most successful courses sponsored by the NOFA Organic Land Care Program, a project of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

February 23, 2008
Darry Madden
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/23/more_dairies_go_raw…
Drinkers say unpasteurized milk contains good bacteria Raymond and Pamela Robinson, owners of a once-conventional dairy in Hardwick, shrank the herd, put all of the cows out to pasture, and transitioned to organic production of raw milk. Raymond and Pamela Robinson, owners of a once-conventional dairy in Hardwick, shrank the herd, put all of the cows out to pasture, and transitioned to organic production of raw milk. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

1. Get an overview of the organic dairy industry in New England and the challenges the industry faces in our smaller states.
2. Hear how a dairy farmer of a 4-generation retail and delivery dairy farm transitioned to organic, and how he became a supplier of local organic milk to Whole Foods Stories in Massachusetts – the first farmer to do so.
3. Get the chance to interview dairy farmers from across the state about their farms and organic transition process, and MDAR officials, Brad Mitchell and Bonita Oehlke.

Each year in Massachusetts an average of 25 dairies go out of business. For some, the reason is that the farmer is ready to retire, but for the the majority, the reason is financial. The price farmers get for their milk is set by federal standards, and today that price is close to what it was 30 years ago. Even though consumers are paying more for milk in the store, conventional farmers are seeing little of that money. Moreover, farmers are paying higher energy and fuel bills to operate their dairies. Currently, there are less than 180 dairies left in Massachusetts.