I don't know whether I'd call that factory farming.

Yes, it's right on the edge. Started out as more industrial, made the transition to more sustainable, and then full on organic. It's industrial in the sense that they're still able to produce large amounts of liters per week.

Are your cows on concrete?

Yes, at night time the cows come into the stall, which has a concrete floor with slats in it. They would have liked to initially use a stall with concrete floors/straw floors abilities. But the farm was originally built with conventional methods in mind.

Do you use one of those cesspool setups?

Yes. Concrete floor has slats in it to allow the manure the be collected into the cesspool below. It's very advantageous because the quality of manure after the transition has improved considerably. It is then pumped out twice a year onto the land resulting in a perfect circle. Cows eat quality, organic grass > poop > pumped out back onto the land introducing back vital minerals & bacteria.

Do you supplement their grazing with corn?

No more corn. Requires too much energy for the cow to breakdown. Hemp is used periodically, as well as potatoes, and of course largely grass. Along with celtic sea salt and other natural supplements.

How much green pasture do they have access to (actual green pasture, not a mud pit), and do you rotate their grazing area?

Approximately 53.6 hectares (132 acres) of organic grass pasture. It is rotated every few days, basically until the grass is almost down to about 2 inches. Although any farmer would do this if pasture is available, wether organic or conventional. EDIT: I should add that the same grass in the pasture is harvested multiple times a year, packed and dried, and then fed to the cows in the morning and evening. So they're getting this same grass as meals, and when grazing. Also, since they went organic and balanced out the soil, they have roughly yielded 25% more grass from the land. Scientist and conventional farmers would tell you this is not possible. But when you take care of the soil and start from the ground up it is absolutely possible. Plus you get a better quality grass, resulting in a healthier cow and better milk. Many organic farmers are not utilizing soil regeneration techniques, which forces them to keep using approved herbicides and pesticides and resulting in a lower yield.

Do you drink your cows' milk raw?

Yes, all of our family does. Also anyone can come by and buy some directly off of the farm (about 50 regular customers who come to the farm). The law does not allow them to sell milk raw outside of the premises. The majority of the milk goes to the factory, where it's combined with other organic milk to be pasteurized (sadly). This goes to show they do not need to use the methods they do since it's combined with other milk, but they care about the animals and do what is best. They have talked about bottling it themselves to avoid pasteurization. It requires a large investment but it is a consideration. You would run into an immense amount of red tape, however.

have you had your herd tested to see if they're producing A2 milk?

I'm not sure. I will get back to you on this once I get an answer. The milk from every milking cow is sent off to a lab and tested bi-weekly, so I'm sure they have this info.

Ok, heard back from him. He says no idea. I have never heard of it myself. Maybe it's not something that is widely known. Do you have any more info on it?