Why Earth Matters to us…
Our goal is to use our tools and ingenuity to leave the land better than we found it so future generations can enjoy it too!
Morning Fresh Dairy Farm is engaged in climate-smart agriculture practices that are making positive differences in our environment.
Cover Crops
We practice regenerative agriculture by utilizing crop rotation and cover crops at our farm. We plant triticale grain and tubular radishes immediately after we harvest the corn for silage in September. Tubular radishes grow downward and break up compacted soil, reducing tillage. This practice provides field cover year-round which is important to maintain healthy, productive farm ground.
The goal of planting these cover crops is to improve our soil biodiversity, health, and resiliency. Healthier soils provide better water retention and increased carbon sequestration.
Carbon Sequestration
By minimizing our tilling we are maintaining the sequestration of carbon-rich organic matter in our soil. This prevents the soil from being exposed to atmospheric oxygen, leaching, and erosion.
Our Dairy’s Carbon Cycle
Our cow’s waste is used beneficially. We apply manure to our fields which naturally improves our soil’s health, and is a method of carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. We have installed processing technology that separates most of the water from the manure’s solids, allowing the more concentrated slurry to be applied to fields efficiently. Applying the manure onto our fields produces healthy, nutrient-rich soil.
Our Cows & Crops
Cared for on our farm
We raise our calves at the dairy from the time they are born all the way to when they are able to produce milk and be milked on our dairy-go-round milking parlor. Raising them ourselves allows us to watch their health carefully and make sure they get the best nutrition possible to ensure they have a long and happy life. Our cows even have their own nutritionist and veterinarian!
Our dairy is surrounded by fields which we grow silage on to feed our cows. We plant and harvest our own corn which ensures it is high quality and is stored properly for the cows to enjoy all year round. We are pretty lucky to have a system that allows us to closely monitor what goes into our cow’s bodies.
Glass Bottles
Unlike its plastic cousin, glass bottles are a fully sustainable and recyclable resource that also provides fantastic environmental benefits. Glass bottles offer a long life cycle and lower carbon footprint. In fact, each one of our bottles can be reused an unlimited number of times! Each bottle is made of abundant, natural and raw materials and has better food preservation capabilities. Every time we re-use a glass bottle we eliminate plastic waste!
People who participate in our reusable glass bottle program know that by rinsing and returning bottles to us they are key to helping us reduce waste. This community engagement is crucial to keeping our high standard as an environmentally conscious dairy farm. Get yours delivered right to your home!
Looking Ahead…
Anaerobic Digestion
Morning Fresh Dairy is in the preliminary stages of installing an on-site anaerobic digester to help capture greenhouse gases while producing clean biofuel. Anaerobic digestion technology allows us to naturally produce biogas and convert it into clean electricity by using microorganisms that digest and break down our cow’s manure as well as human food waste to produce methane. The remaining digestate material that isn’t turned into methane is nutrient rich and will be used as a fertilizer for our crops.
Local Food Shed
We grow all of our own silage around the dairy. This eliminates thousands of trucking miles that most dairies experience to transport feed. Fewer gas miles is better for the environment and fewer food miles means shorter distance for your food to travel. Fewer food miles also means fresher products for you to enjoy. Through our home delivery service, we deliver many local products, which helps support the local economy and provides our customers with fresher food.
