Many factory farM cows willnever see the daylight

The new friendly way of successful dairy farmingA LOOK INTO THE LEADER OF SUSTAINABLE CREAMERIES

Tom Michael Trantham, founder of Happy Cow Creamery, has chosen to make it his very own personal mission to keep his cows smiling and happy with each new day. Through simple grazing and farming techniques, Tom has managed to keep his pastures healthy and prosperous. Trantham and his family always try to keep a positive attitude towards their prized cattle and their award winning sustainable creamery.

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The milk is fresh and delicious, the fields are green and lush, and the cows are always happyCOME ON BY AND STOP AND SEE FOR YOURSELF

There Is A Place In Greenville County in the country side where the fields are green and lush the milk is fresh and the cows are all always happy. Located on Tom Tranthams 100 acre farm, deep within the crisp fields of South Carolina’s finest terrain, the future of dairy farming has begun. A delicious glass of milk with no hormones or any growth supplements, what could possibly be better than that?

On a Small Farm In South Carolina. Located on Tom Tranthams 100 acre farm, deep within the crisp fields of South Carolina’s finest terrain, the future of dairy farming has begun. Sustainable farming working side by side with happy cow has lead to years in successful farming for Trantham, and will soon work for a lot of other farmers. It is a method that can’t fail. Instead of whispering to horses, he listens to cows.

He Listens To His Cows. Tom has been listening and watching them ever since the day they broke out of their pasture and changed his life. It was August 1989 and the Trantham dairy was going broke very fast. Milk prices were stuck on a ‘72 tune while feed costs were rocketing off the charts. Even though his cows were winning South Carolina production awards, couldn’t produce enough milk to pay for their feed bill which gobbled up to 65% of the total gross income.

The Newest Weapon in a producer’s arsenal back then was BST. Even though it was being thought of as safety and the only way to pull far ahead in the financial race.

“I wanted to use chemicals,” Tom Admits, “It just seemed

like it was the only option I had to keep my family alive. Many farmers agree with Trantham that It’s difficult to be modern day farmer, it’s not like it used to be, not that it was ever easy. Fighting against giant corporate farms producing extremely large amounts of dairy.

Fearing For The Health Of His Cows, Tom looked for new methods of farming. Financial advisors told me I needed to get out of the business, recalls Tom. “They said there was no way for me to make it. Those were the dark days; I’d wake up and pray that maybe things were looking up for me and my cows one of these days. The whole family was hoping for some sort of miracle, really. I know it sounds silly, but we were praying every night that we would find a new method for making our cows happier, and our pockets.” says Sue, Tom’s wife.

PADDOCK INCREASEFROM 1978 – 2008

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93 98 03 08

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PERCENTAgE OF CORN USED IN VARIOUS FACTORy FARMS’

COw FEED FORMULA IN THE UNITED STATES

INFORMATION AQUIRED BY THE UNIVERISTY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

10%

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70%

80%

90%

90%

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60%

30%

40%

JAMES & BROWN COLDWELL & SON BUCKELEY FARMS SOUTHWESTERN QUALITY FARM SMITHSON & BRO.

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S: We have all been hearing about your farm in the news, and the readers are just dying to know, what is so special about your famous family owned farm in South Carolina called Happy Cow Creamery?T: Happy Cow Creamery is very special because we are a completely sustainable farm out in ole’ South Carolina. I also think it is a very special fact that our cows have so much more gentle breathing room.

S: How much space in acres perhaps, would you say that Happy Cow Creamery has on it’s farm?T: We have 100 acres of land and we have 99.8% more space per each cow than cows that live in all Factory farms. Im an equal rights cow activist, that’s for sure I am an equal rights dairy cattle activist that’s certain.

S: Sounds like you really love your cows!T: It’s true, that is why we are in the busyness, it is our love of cows, my family let them listen to a special cow tunes before they hit the hay sack, so-to-speak. Sorry, it’s an ole’ farmers joke from my great grand father!

S: Laughing Well— back to business, What kind of products do you sell at you creamery?T: We mostly sell milk, but we have towels too. I’m a simple folk, what can I say? Just kidding, we also sell cream cheese, regular cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter. It’s delicious, ask anybody in the farm’s areaor in the state for that matter. It’s also good for you. We have a ton of testimonials on our website online. We also just got a new web page on the internet!

S: Why do you think your products are the very best?T: You kiddin’? Our cows only eat the best grass this side of the Mississippi. They get to be outside, with space and there’s more room for their bodies to grow healthier. It’s all about the cows here, we love them. We grow our grass so that the cows can eat as much as they’d like at any time of day during the sunlight. Our prices are also something we take lots of pride in our prices, everything is sold at better prices on the farm. Why sell expensive dairy when we don’t need to, We’re here for the dairy cows, and the customers.

INTERVIEW WITH TOM TRANTHAM JUNE, 2009

Whitney Stone with the Daily News Press

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“I am an equal rights dairy cow activist; I just can not bear see the depressed faces of unhappy dairy cattle, it truly makes me feel sick to my stomach.”

Our cows have 99.8% more room than factory cowswhy we love to allow so MUch Breathing sPace

Not all farms are like this one, in fact the majority are the exact opposite. Factory farming has become all too common in the twenty first century. They have been known to put cows at the least of their worries and pay no attention to their needs or desires. Many of these very delicate animals are placed into extremely small quarters, and no room to move around. The Farms use hormones on the cows, it lowers the life expectancy.

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AVERAGE AMOUNT OF COWS PER ACREIN U.S . FACTORY FARMS FROM 1980 – 2008

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Not all cow are as happy as ours and it’s because industrial farming leaves about 960 square feet for every eighty cows they keep. That is only 12 square feet or one cow’s entire life. An entire life of never seeing grass, daylight, or their own family. Industrial farms produce so much animal waste that can not be absorbed by the gentle land.

Antibiotic usage on farms makes the air fumy are then released as very hazardous gases into the air, and often contaminates local groundwater with real bad surrounding the waterways with very bad pathogens and excess nutrients. Every year, approximately 25 million pounds of antibiotics other related drugs are given out to animals for non therapeutic purposes. This is more than eight times the amount that’s used to treat many diseases in humans.

Hormones are given to all of beef cattle in order to speed up their growth, and they are given to about two-thirds of all American cattle. rBGH is commonly used in cattle, which has been prove to damage the health of cows and is been banned by Europe Union.

Sustainable farms provide a welcoming alternative to the problems associated with factory farming. Unlike the corporate factory farm owners who have very small amounts of little interest in the condition of local communities, sustainable farmers have a strong connection to their communities. As farms have become more industrialized, the animals have become more of a commodity. They are considered unites of production, rather than living, breathing beings. “It’s a disgusting sight to see, it makes me think much less of the world” Tom Trantham adds inis 2008 Interview with Carmen McNall.

Not at Happy Cow Creamery, where each individual cow is cared for and loved by people from close to home, and miles away. “It’s such a joyous sight!” Says five year old Tammy Jane Leem. People travel great distances to enjoy the very happiness of the cows at Happy Cow Creamery. “They are fun to watch too!” Six year old Jessica tells us. It’s great to see the kids and the cows smiling. These kids are healthy, and the cows are always happy. Each year they get happier im sure of it I have watched it since day one, when the cows first started coming out of their cage. It’s a really amazing sight that everyone should see. Take your family down to our place for a specialized tour.

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A place where cows can always have the choice to roam freely around a fresh green farmIT IS IN A COw’S NATURE TO ALwAyS wANDER AROUND THE FIELDS OF THE COUNTRy SIDE

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We are always keeping our cows and customers happy TOM AND THE OTHERS LOVE KEEPINg EVERyBODy HAPPy

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but a smiling cow will warm a heart forever. When our cows walk around the fields all day, collecting the best grass and weeds, it warms our hearts as well. There’s no better pride in the world in Trantham’s life than enjoying a sunny summer day with the dairy cows of the creamery. People come from all over the area just to see our cows frolic and smile in the ripe fields of uncut grass.

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Trantham has hosted many field days and regularly shares his techniques with farmers all over the country. He also offers his farm as a training site for other farmers who are considering switching to sustainable farming.

The award is named after the first director of the CSREES’s SARE Program, Patrick Madden, who died last year. The award is given in honor of Madden who provided the leadership as well as the inspiration for a strong sustainable agriculture. The SARE program advances farming systems that are economically viable, environmentally sound and good for communities.

Before perfecting the 100% grass-fed pasture system, Trantham operated as a traditional, high-volume dairy relying on chemical fertilizers and heavy grain feeding. Despite state awards for milk production, Trantham’s farm was losing money and he was facing bankruptcy. When the milking herd one day pushed out of its feedlot into a neighboring field of weeds awaiting planting, milk production immediately increased.

Trantham allowed the herd to graze again and again, he observed that the cows only ate the top half of the lush, virgin weed pasture. Further research by Trantham showed this top half contained most of the nutrients of the plant. It’s from this chance encounter that Trantham researched and developed the 12 Aprils grazing system originally developed in Ireland, Tom then immediately took a liking to it it was fate at first sight, he knew it. Happy Cow Creamery milk is not homogenized and is pasteurized within very a low-temperature “batch pasteurization” process that is reported to kill harmful bacteria while preserving vitamins and helpful enzymes.

The dairy is inspected by the State of South Carolina. The milk is not raw, although raw milk is legal to sell in South Carolina from the farm or small stores.

A fatty acid profile on Happy Cow milk was performed by Utah State University, which found the milk contains up to four times the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) of traditional store-bought milk and almost twice as much CLA as Organic Pastures Dairy Co., a popular raw milk producer in California. The CLA was 1.2 percent of the fat composition, according to the test.

In 1990, Trantham switched from a struggling dairying operation on 70 acres to a profitable, environmentally sound grazing system for dairy cows. With the help of USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program grant, Trantham began experimenting with grazing to reduce feed costs in the late 80s and ended up with over 75 healthier cows and a much more profitable dairy operation than before all the changes.

This year, Trantham converted his silo into a bottling plant and began processing and bottling his milk on site instead of sending it off the farm for processing.This way they save money, and time for everyone. Now, customers buy bottled whole milk, buttermilk and chocolate milk pumped and pasteurized on site in Trantham’s Happy Cow Creamery in South Carolina.Every cow is treated like a part of the Trantham family and the Greenville County’s local community.

“My two year old son used to have bad stomach pains, we began drinking your Happy Cow milk, and he was off of all his medication in under a month.”

– SUSAN ROggINO, gREENVILLE COUNTy MOTHER

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BROWN

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GUERNSEY

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HOLSTEIN

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GOBRA

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The approximately 80 head milking herd is rotated through 29 paddocks of 2.5 to 3.5 acres, feeding on different paddock each day. By the end of the cycle, the first paddock has re-grown and the herd cycles through again. The herd also receives supplemental feeding in the form of high-energy pellets and hay at milking time. Organic fertilizer is used on pasture and no injected rBGH is used to treat milk cows. However, Trantham has not sought official organic certification from anyone. He claims it does not seem reasonable for him to do.

Shade is very important to cow comfort and milk production. Tom is fortunate to have ½ to ¾ acres of trees in all but three of his paddocks. In hot weather, early morning grazing is scheduled for the unshaded areas, forty two free stalls are used for feeding TMR near the silo and the designated milking section area.

To water his traveling herd, Tom buried one-inch plastic pipes from his well to the paddocks. Water is served in 300-gallon Rubber Maid troughs. Each trough sits on a pad made from geo-textiles, paid for with cost-share from the Farm Services Agency. “This is a little known but helpful program that most producers don’t take.

Upon learning that a cow needs 40 percent of her daily water requirement immediately after milking, Tom then decided to install a 40 foot long watering trough for use when the herd leaves the milking parlor. It was perfect. Similar shade canopies of wood or other material could be used in paddocks without trees. The new trough is made from a 20 foot long plastic culvert that was sliced horizontally and welded together by special order at the manufacture, it was the perfect invention to make the cows at our creamery, the happiest they could ever be.

DAILY MILK PRODUCTION PER BREED D I S P L AY E D I N G A L L O N S

“Waking up every morning with a fresh glass of cold and delicious Happy Cow Creamery milk, makes me realize how wonderful life can truly be.” – MICHAEL FURgUSSON, PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER

H A P P y C O w C R E A M E Ry. C O M

332 South McKelvey Road Pelzer, S.C. 56895