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One spring morning in the leafy countryside of Bosque Farms, it is still relatively cool to milk the cows at De Smet Dairy and Creamery.
Soft doe-eyed jerseys line up behind the milk barn. know the routine. Beyond extend the pastures and the endless azure sky. At the end of the street and at the corner of the street is the De Smet Livestock Lounge in a lush green pen.
Mike and Erica De Smet, dairy owners, open the door and some young heifers head for Mike.
Spiderman, the Jersey bull named by the boys of De Smet, Landon, 7, and Logan, 5, is questioned, so they do not need to clear their cattle. Another bull, Batman, also named by the boys, resides with dairy cows.
Mike and Erica De Smet started a grass-fed dairy business almost six years ago at Bosque Farms. The original dairy belonged to Mike's father, Hugh De Smet, who retired in 1998.
At the present time, De Smets are dealing about 48 cows on a herd of about 160 cattle. Spring calves are kept with their mothers who also provide milk for the family business.
De Smets discovered that while calves can get a natural source of milk, they are healthier than bottle-fed calves and their cows. are never confined except when they are aligned at the time of milking. Male calves are banded to become steers and provide grass fed beef.
Jersey cows are usually beige in color, some with a chocolate brown color on their faces and ends. A big brown chocolate cow, Mimi, "the most beautiful cow of all time", is a Jersey-Holstein cross and there are also black beasts who are also half-breeds.
This small bucolic family farm is a modern version of the small, rural farms of early American history. It is relatively quiet, except for the rhythmic chewing of cows and the trilatory song of a meadow from the West.
The couple raises Jersey cows because they are smaller and easier to keep than Holstein, but mostly because Jersey cows produce a lot of cream with butter fat in their milk.
"That's what our customers are looking for," said Erica. "They are looking for that healthy, saturated fat – that good fat that does not stick to your gut."
Samuel Santiago deals with cows at De Smet Dairy in Bosque Farms, which went from bottling 100 bottles of half-gallon a week five years ago to the bottling 400 bottles a week in 2018 Raw milk is full of beneficial bacteria, explains the couple.
"Where yoghurt has two or three beneficial crops or bacteria added, the two or three are in the billions but there are only two or three," says Mike. . "Raw milk contains thousands of different types of bacteria."
Growing up in a dairy, Mike drank raw milk all his life. He is a third-generation farmer, operating on the same farm as his father Hugh, founded in 1949.
After Hugh retired in 1998, the farm was idle and Mike worked in a small dairy in Vermont. He returned home, met Erica, they married and reconstituted together the dairy but with a different twist.
The couple decided to found a dairy with Jersey cows and grow their own food on the 125 acres of the farm. . Their goal was and still is to provide healthy and nutritious creams, whole yogurt, raw whole milk, whole pasteurized milk and fresh farm eggs.
From 14 cows only, they started Mike explained that low temperature pasteurization leaves some of the enzymes because they are "softer", thus preserving potentially more beneficial substances and nutrients.
Marketing of whole milk and whole milk. he said.
"For our pasteurized milk, we are doing 145 degrees for 30 minutes," says Mike. "This allows some of the lactate enzymes and other beneficial bacteria to survive in milk, so it's still a healthier form of milk."
On a small farm like theirs, De Smet can take additional measures as the milk is delivered clean and fresh.
The director of dairy products Jesus Escarcega operates the creamery, as well as the dairy cows. Escarcega wears many hats at the De Smet dairy farm and dairy at Bosque Farms
"We want to be sure every grain of dust, dirt and debris is on these teats before putting the milkers". "We take every precaution to provide clean and nutritious whole milk."
The milker, an octopus of a device, has four suckers that are cleaned in a solution of bleach after each cow has been tampered with
enzymes in raw milk, it starts to turn into cream cheese and whey protein as it ages.
"Our customers sometimes buy milk to make milk or cream cheese". "Raw milk does not go bad, it just starts to turn into something else."
"We do not recommend it at all, but people make kefir (a fermented milk drink) . They make yogurt. They make cheese, "adds Mike.
Raw milk in the natural state contains natural probiotics for beneficial intestinal bacteria that promote digestion. It also contains other benefits, such as conjugated linoleic acid, a type of fat associated with a wide variety of health benefits, including immune and inflammatory system, better bone mass, better blood sugar, a better Erica said: "Most of their lactose intolerant customers can drink De Smet's milk. Erica said that 99% of these customers can drink their whole milk.
Erica teaches TRX fitness classes and Silver Sneakers at Main Street Muscle and Fitness in Los Lunas. She said that grass-fed dairy is the best pre-and post-workout for the body.
"Natural whey protein is used for strong, lean muscle," said Erica. "It's a good post-workout because it contains this naturally-occurring whey protein … all the things your body needs."
De Smet dairy and creamy products can be purchased directly at the farm, 2405 McNew Road at Bosque Farms. For more information, visit desmetdairy.com . De Smets can be reached by email at [email protected] or by calling 916-0475.
De Smet dairy products are also sold at La Montañita Food Coops and Keller's Farm Store in Albuquerque, Moses Kountry Health Foods Store on Fourth Street in Los Ranchos De Albuquerque, Española Community Market on Paseo De Oñate, in Santa Fe and Los Alamos.
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