Grohman - Keeping a Family Cow

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Chelsea Green Publishing sees books as tools for effecting cultural change and seeks to empower citizens to participate in reclaiming our global commons and become its impassioned stewards. If you enjoyed Market Farming Success , please consider these other great books related to food, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

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Keeping a Family Cow

Revised and Updated Edition

The Complete Guide for Home-Scale, Holistic Dairy Producers

Joann S. Grohman

Foreword by Jack Lazor

Chelsea Green Publishing

White River Junction, Vermont

Copyright 2013 by Joann S. Grohman.

All rights reserved.

First published as The Cow Economy in 1975 with Merril Grohman (Coburn Farm Press) and as Keeping a Family Cow , by Joann S. Grohman, in 1981 (Charles Scribners Sons), in 1984 (Ballantine Books), and in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2008 (Coburn Press, 434 Carthage Road, Carthage, ME 04224).

Unless otherwise noted, all illustrations copyright 2013 by Max Luick.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Hillary Gregory
Editor: Makenna Goodman
Copy Editor: Nancy Ringer
Proofreader: Eileen M. Clawson
Indexer: Shana Milkie
Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Printed in the United States of America.
First printing September, 2013.

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Our Commitment to Green Publishing
Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Keeping a Family Cow was printed on FSC-certified paper supplied by Thomson-Shore that contains at least 30% postconsumer recycled fiber.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grohman, Joann S.
Keeping a family cow / by Joann S. Grohman ; foreword by Jack Lazor.Rev. and updated ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60358-478-4 (pbk.)ISBN 978-1-60358-479-1 (ebook)
1. Dairy farming. 2. Cows. 3. Dairying. I. Title.

SF239.G76 2013
636.2142dc23

2013022230

Chelsea Green Publishing
85 North Main Street, Suite 120
White River Junction, VT 05001
(802) 295-6300
www.chelseagreen.com

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Foreword

In May of 1975, my wife, Anne, and I rented a little farm in Irasburg, Vermont. Within a week, we had purchased a family cow named Pet. It was all part of our master planwe were going back to the land in search of a meaningful life. We wanted to provide for ourselves independent of a world that we saw heading in a different direction.

We thought we were ready for the task at hand. I had read lots of books and had studied the history of agriculture while at college. Anne had taken several animal science courses at UW Madison. We had both done stints at dairy farms and had worked on the historical farm at Old Sturbridge Village. We were so wet behind the ears. What we lacked in experience, we made up with idealism and ambition.

It was right about this time that we came across a little book called The Cow Economy by Merril and Joann Grohmana book about the very lifestyle we wanted to lead. Everything we needed to know about keeping a family cow was in this little book. Feeding, breeding, and the general principles of animal husbandry were all discussed right down to last nuanced detail. With help from our friends and neighbors and the advice contained in this little book, we made our way into the world of dairy farming.