About
Our small herd of Cows consists of a diverse mix of breeds including Jersey, Ayrshire, Guernsey, and Brown Swiss, each bringing different quality traits to our 100% grass-fed dairy. The cows are rotationally grazed on grass pastures and supplemented with grass and alfalfa hay during the winter months, producing beautiful golden creamy milk year round. Our Cows are also offered free-choice organic sea kelp and minerals designed to promote overall cow health and milk quality. We have on faqrm pick-up and pick-up locations at Happy Heart Farm in Fort Collins.
The Cows are milked Once-a-Day which is a holistic management practice for our Farm and Family. Once-a-Day milking demands less production from our cows, resulting in less stress on the cow’s system and promotes longevity in the life-span of the cows.
The Cows live outside year round–their natural and most healthy living environment. They come into the milk barn each day for a short time during milking, and they do have access to a open south facing straw bedded “greenhouse barn” during cold and wet winter weather. But they are most content when grazing in the pastures or loafing outside under the stars.
We focus on Quality not Quantity when it comes to milk production, and happy healthy cows on grass pasture make amazingly flavorful and nutrient dense milk, rich in vitamins, minerals, and conjugated linoleic acids.
Our small scale artisan dairy produces milk with the utmost attention to animal hygiene and cleanliness in every step of the process. Cows are kept clean on rotating pastures and freshly bedded hay packs for loafing in the winter months. The cows are brushed as needed when they come in for milking each day, and their udders are cleaned with warm water and a gentle sanitizing dip before milking begins.
Milking equipment is sanitized prior to each milking with a food grade hydrogen peroxide, and the milk is filtered and cooled rapidly in our stainless steel cooling tank after each milking. We bottle milk into sanitized ½ gallon glass jars every couple of days to offer the most fresh, pure and unprocessed milk available.
Our raw milk is tested monthly according to RMAC (the Raw Milk Association of Colorado) standards for bacteria counts, specific pathogens and coliforms, and overall udder health. Monthly milk testing gives us a regular check-in as to whether our dairy management practices are working. Our test results consistently meet the top tier of RMAC’s recommended milk quality standards. Raw milk is a living food, full of essential nutrients, enzymes, and probiotics, and we feel very confident that we are offering a clean high quality product.
Light Root Community Farm’s practices are deeply rooted in Biodynamic Agriculture, with a focus on building a holistic, diverse and self-sustaining farm. Biodynamic agriculture is a path that works to enliven the Earth thru our conscious land stewardship, reverent animal husbandry, and life promoting farming practices.
We see the Farm as a living organism, with its own individuality shaped by the local land, the plants, and the animals, which are woven together in a harmonious relationship thru the creativity of the Farmer. The biodynamic Farmer cultivates a spiritual consciousness and an awakened relationship to the land, working with both the natural rhythms of the earth and the cosmic rhythms from above to promote health and vitality. We strive to create a farm that is balanced in its diversity, produces its own fertility, and promotes health in the soil, plants, animals and farm community.
Light Root Community Farm is committed to utilizing draft horse power as an integral part of our farm management. The farm is scaled to a size that we can work the land and manage farm with our working team of draft horses, along with some supplemental tractor work for baling hay and managing manure. The draft horses are truly “solar powered” in that they are fueled by the grass and hay they eat, and they generate fertility for the farm from the manure they produce.
Working with draft horses requires a living dynamic relationship between the farmer and the horse. We use gentle handling techniques and work with the natural language of the horse to foster a trusting relationship and a willingness to work. The horses are utilized to mow and rake hay, move round bales of hay on the farm, spread compost, till and cultivate soil, and a variety of other practical tasks on the farm. Our animal husbandry motto is “ The Farmer serves the animals and in return the animals serve the Farm”.
Light Root Community Farm is a working farm and social initiative that strives to cultivate a strong community and vibrant social fabric around the farm. The farms of the future need to be held as valued community assets, that serve as a foundation for local food production, land and nature preservation, and cultural regeneration and education. The farm can also provide a living sanctuary for the community to be connected to their food source, the plants, the animals and each other.
At Light Root Community Farm we strive to bring the Culture back into Agriculture and reconnect people with the land. We invite folks into the farm through our dairy herd share program, educational workshops and tours, as well as potlucks and seasonal festivals that we celebrate on the farm. As the farm grows and diversifies we will seek to expand our land base and pursue alternative landownership structures that secure the land and farm assets for the future.