Our Organic Valley Farm Adventure

Last weekend Piper and I had the opportunity to visit one of Organic Valley’s beautiful farms located just over an hour from our house outside of Frederick, MD. We routinely eat Organic Valley products in our house (whole milk, string cheese and their Grassmilk plain yogurt are our current favorites) so I was really excited about the opportunity to attend one of their Farm Discovery days! Piper loves animals (and milk) so I knew she would love it, too and she did. These events are open to the public, you just need to register!

Before this trip I didn’t realize that Organic Valley is a farmer owned cooperative, 2000 family farms around the country produce the milk used in their products. You can find your local farm here! I loved meeting The Holters who have been farming their land since 1889! In 2000 they transitioned the farm from conventional to organic and are one of the only organic farms in Maryland (this surprised me).  The Holterholm Farm is one of Organic Valley’s grass-fed only farms, meaning The Holter’s cows only eat a variety of grasses that grow in their pasture and dried forage like hay. Why grass-fed only? Milk from grass-fed cows has a higher amount of Omega-3s and CLA and also has a richer flavor. The Grassmilk cream top yogurt is sooo yummy!

As soon as we got out of the car all Piper would say is “Animals?” “Animals?” and she was so excited to get up and close with the cows! I’m not sure she totally understands where her beloved milk comes from (when I asked her the other days what the cows give us she said “ice water”). It was amazing to see them in their natural habitat, freely roaming the pasture where they spend 8 hours a day eating! Organic Valley cows are never given any synthetic hormones or antibiotics.

It was a little rainy but I think it made being on the farm all the more fun. Piper and her friend Olivia loved splashing in the puddles, falling in the mud and running around in their rain coats. It was such a fun day and I’ve honestly never seen Piper enjoy herself more.

We saw the milking parlor where the cows are milked three times a day. All of the milk produced at Holterholm Farm gets picked up by a milk truck and is transported to one of Organic Valley’s production facilities.

There were a few different fun activities for the kids — and plenty of string cheese and other Organic Valley samples! Piper tried her very first sip of chocolate milk, she was a fan! She also had a fun time making her very own butter.

I love showing and teaching Piper about where her food is coming from at an early age and I’m so fortunate we were able to meet the actual farmers. I highly suggest locating one of your local farms and registering to attend a Farm Discovery Day.

*This post was sponsored by Organic Valley. As always we only work with brands we love and use in our family. Thanks for supporting the partners that keep The Mama Notes in business. 

Images by Olive Juice Photography