Sustainable Farming and Business Practices Used by The Modern Milkman and Oakridge Dairy

The largest dairy farm in Connecticut combines old-school farming techniques and values with sustainability to provide high-quality fresh dairy to its customers. Located in north-central Connecticut, our dairy farm includes about 3,000 acres farmed for feed. The farm was founded in 1890, passing down successful dairy farming practices for generations. As technology progresses, so does the adaptation of that technology into the farming process. At The Modern Milkman, we strive to raise healthy cows, produce homegrown food, and ensure the cows are cared for using sustainable farming methods.

Reduction of Carbon Footprint

Due to animal health programs, better farm management practices, and improvements in animal breeding, the dairy industry has significantly reduced the carbon footprint of producing milk. More vital land and manure management is a significant contribution to improving the carbon footprint and sustainable farming. By 2020, the dairy industry reduced its carbon footprint by 63 percent, which shows how important it is to continue these sustainable farming practices for a better and healthier future.

Gone Solar

Oakridge Dairy continues to do its part in reducing the carbon footprint of milk farms. Currently, the dry cow barn has 752 solar panels covering it, which offsets its electrical usage by 25 percent. Additionally, when we built the eight-acre barn, we installed the most efficient fans, pumps, lights, and other electrical equipment to keep electric consumption as low as possible.

Recycling Manure

Our farm has created sustainable farming practices for all the cows’ manure. While the cows are occupied and being milked, a manure vacuum goes through the barn to vacuum the waste. Since the liquid part of the manure makes it smell, the vacuums dump it into a pit where the liquid portion is segregated from the dry fiber. From there, we pump the liquid into a substantially covered lagoon and use it to fertilize our crops. The lagoon also remains protected to minimize the smell.

We store the dry matter undercover for a year. It creates a dry sawdust-like material that does not smell, which we use for bedding, and change every day. Because the dry matter does not smell, we let it “cure” for a year to have the correct texture for bedding.

Farming

Instead of having food shipped in for our cows, we grow our own. The greatest benefit of this is knowing what goes into that food. We grow pesticide-free corn silage, rye, grass silage, and sunflowers. Feeding our cows what we grow naturally is our secret to getting great-tasting milk. 

Of the 3,000 acres, 2,000 are dedicated to the corn crop. Instead of plowing the fields, which contributes to soil erosion, we use a no-till drill planter that drills through the ground to plant the seeds. We also use an eight-row Claas corn chopper to hash the whole plant and blow it into the truck during harvest. We then weigh and dump the load, use tractors to pack the silage pile, and squeeze the oxygen out; this helps the corn ferment faster. We similarly harvest hay in the same matter. 

Contact The Modern Milkman

Help us increase farming sustainability by buying milk directly from a farm that implements sustainable practices. Oakridge Dairy continues to create sustainable methods, such as a methane digester, to turn methane created by dairy cows into energy to further contribute to power the farm. We are working on safely gathering and storing the methane to convert it into energy.

The Modern Milkman is a delivery service run by Oakridge Dairy. Contact us today to place your weekly order for fresh local milk delivery in CT.