September 24, 2025 • 19 mins
Step onto Connecticut’s only veteran-owned dairy farm, where every drop of milk is lightly processed, vat-pasteurized, and bottled right on the property. Guardians Farm in scenic Southbury is the passion project of David Buck, a retired U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Enforcement Specialist and former K9 officer, and his wife Tamra French, an active K9 officer. Together, they’re first-generation dairy farmers on a mission to produce clean, nutrient-rich milk while caring for the land through regenerative practices.
Meet their beloved herd—Holsteins, Jerseys, and Brown Swiss—and learn how each breed contributes its own rich flavor and butterfat magic. From calf cuddles and goat snuggles to a welcoming farm stand stocked with minimally processed dairy, every visit lets you see (and taste!) where your milk comes from.
Discover how David and Tamra nurture future generations of cows with group-raised calves, selective genetics, and zero-chemical fields. Whether you’re savoring their fresh milk, booking a weekend cuddle session, or simply curious about sustainable farming, Guardians Farm offers an unforgettable, hands-on experience.
📍 Visit: Saturdays & Sundays 11 AM–3 PM, Wednesdays 3–6 PM
🌐 Order online: GuardiansFarmDairy.com | Pickup & delivery 7 days a week
📞 Call: (203) 906-6372
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
Meet their beloved herd—Holsteins, Jerseys, and Brown Swiss—and learn how each breed contributes its own rich flavor and butterfat magic. From calf cuddles and goat snuggles to a welcoming farm stand stocked with minimally processed dairy, every visit lets you see (and taste!) where your milk comes from.
Discover how David and Tamra nurture future generations of cows with group-raised calves, selective genetics, and zero-chemical fields. Whether you’re savoring their fresh milk, booking a weekend cuddle session, or simply curious about sustainable farming, Guardians Farm offers an unforgettable, hands-on experience.
📍 Visit: Saturdays & Sundays 11 AM–3 PM, Wednesdays 3–6 PM
🌐 Order online: GuardiansFarmDairy.com | Pickup & delivery 7 days a week
📞 Call: (203) 906-6372
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
The safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. David Buck will join us
from Southbury, Connecticut. Owns Guardian Farm Dairy Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut,
a working dairy farm open to visitors, so you're cut
(00:20):
out of the same cloth as I am. David. I'd
like to see people coming to the farm. It's very
helpful for people who understand about cows and milk and
what happens on the farm. You tout on your website, which,
by the way, for people who are interested. As we
go through this conversation, you go to guardiansfarmdairy dot com.
(00:45):
You're a veteran. It's the only veteran owned dairy farm
in Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, according to the Connecticut Veteran Grown program that the
State of Connecticut runs, we are the only registered veteran
owned dairy farm in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
How important is that to you and your business? I'd
mean maybe there's two fastest the question how important is
it to you personally? And then how important is that
identification to the success of the farm.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It is important to myself, you know, just to be
able to show our customers that, you know, I've kind
of myself and my wife have dedicated our lives to service.
We're both police officers as well, so it's basically, you know,
our you know, the majority of our lives has been serviced,
whether it's a law enforcement co star and now farming.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So and I do think.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
That the customers do appreciate that as well, and it's
possibly something that they do look for. I know a
lot of people who come here who are veterans themselves
are happy to support a veteran on farm.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I think they take they feel good about doing that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So you have a farm stand that's open on the weekends,
kind of like what I have on my farm. Easily farm.
You can visit the brinyard, you can go where the
calves are. You have cuddle time, and I think that's
how you describe it, right, cuddle time with the cows.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
So I'm actually sitting in the farm store right now.
Is gonna sit outside with the animals. But there it's
morning time. Servan's a little noisy, a lot of moving
going on.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
If i'd be distractings.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So we actually purchased this property in twenty twenty and
we had intentions of over time building a farm stand
somewhere on the property, but then once COVID hit and
all the fairs and farmers' markets that we normally did
were canceled, we decided to take what was my workshop
in this old hay loft that's.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Right off our driveway and turning into a store.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
The town of Southbury is very very supportive of that,
and it's been I mean everyone comes in here.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, it's like a three story.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Hayloft, you know, whitewashed walls, and it's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So it's actually the perfect spot for it.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So yeah, But.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Regarding the calf cuddles, so we started it last year
and I saw, you know, we weren't licensed as a
dairy just yet, and we incurred a lot of delays
from COVID and you know the Pandemics supply chain issues.
So it actually took us about a year and a
half to take possession of our pasteurizer that we get
(03:11):
paid in full for and our bulk tanks. So I
was like, all right, well, we've got to figure out
a way to make money. And I saw other places
doing calf puddles. They maybe had one calf and they
were doing calf puddles and I was like, I have
multiple calves.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I'm like I could do this. And at first it was.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
A way of, you know, let's generate a little bit
more income for the farm. But what it's really transitioned
to is fostering that relationship with the customer and it
kind of ties everything together where now we are we are.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
We've been licensed for just over a year.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
So as people come here, they do the calf cuddles,
they hopefully leave with some milk.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, after they shop in the farm stand.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
But what's kind of happening is the calves from last
year as they age, and next year they'll have calf
of their own, and we'll be able to.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Say, hey, prevail.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
You know, one of our right and away hole scenes
is now producing milk. People will remember when they did
caf calls with her two years prior and really just
you know, strengthen that relationship even more.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
With the customer. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
David Buck from Guardians Farm Dairy and Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut,
is the guest this week of the American Family Farmer.
I'm Doug Stephen and she's not. She could be Elizabeth
Miller However, as a matter of fact, she is Elizabeth
Miller is one of the great reasons for going to
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(04:35):
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(05:01):
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Speaker 1 (05:14):
Elizabeth Miller from the folks at calder Trin. Thanks Elizabeth.
Back on the American Family Farmer, I'm Doug Stephen and
David Buck who comes from the Guardian Farm Dairy and
Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut is here telling his story. I
would encourage you to listen to this story and all
(05:36):
the other stories that we have every week. Try to
find a diversity of focus other than the news and
my thoughts on certain issues that affect farming. This is
a time for us to focus on the various things
that are going on around the country. And so every
week you have the opportunity to hear the program on
a lot of great radio stations around the country, especially
(05:58):
in rural parts of America. And there's the podcast, which
you get wherever you get your podcasts that make a difference.
The americanfamilyfarmershow dot Com is available for you wherever you
get your podcasts, so you may hear half of a
story you may want to go back to listen. After
I talked about last week's program, we had a lot
of people who were interested in the information I had
(06:21):
about solar panels. And every week it's something different, so
you see the whole category there. There are hundreds and
hundreds of hours of programming for you to kind of
sort through and maybe get some expertise. This is program
is aimed at encouraging people to get into farming, stay
in farming, what's going on and farming maybe change your
direction a little bit. So if you're in the dairy
(06:42):
business and you got a lot of calves around, you
want to listen to David Buck tell us his story
about how cuddles are available. I guess you have not
just calves, you got goats too, right.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So we actually started with goats back in about twenty fifteen,
and we had we were primarily goats and chickens up
until twenty two when we started with dairy kous.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So you you'd say on the website that the milk
is lightly processed. In my mind or a lot of
people's minds, it's either processed or it isn't processed. What
does lightly processed mean?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So we do a process called VAT pasteurization.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So you have your raw milk and then on the
other end of the spectrum you have your ultra pasturization
where it's heat up to a very high temperature and
then cool and that can kind of kill most everything
that's in there, still good for you, but it you
know a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Of the good commody that you.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Right y, So what we do is VAT pastorization is
we heat it to one hundred and forty five degrees,
hold that temperature for thirty minutes, and then cool it.
And what that does is that kills any potential pathogens.
But all that good back here you need to help digest.
It remains intact. And it's also right. Oh, the flavors amazing. Yep,
freame rises to the top. It's it's great.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yep. It's a good old way of doing things. So
how hard was it to get certification to do that?
Because we have I have sold I didn't do that
well in the process of doing a setting up a
process or actually on my farm, I was milking one
hundred and fifty cows at the time, was twenty sixteen.
Twenty seventeen, had a horrible storm. One of my buildings collapsed,
(08:15):
eight or nine cows died. The lost stuff to help.
It was thirty below zero, all that good stuff. So
I stopped milking then, and I have since. I set
up a bovine sanctuary for older cows that I don't
slaughter anything. I just raised him and he can't save
them all.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, So as far as getting you know, licensed and
everything to process, I actually I mean if I back
up just a little bit. Our barn was built in
eighteen fifty, so it was a dairy farm back you know,
early nineteen hundreds, and it hasn't been for several decades.
So I actually had the State of Connecticut dairy inspectors
come in and prior to even building anything, and I
(08:56):
had other dairy farmers committed just kind of help advise,
you know, how best to do it, and everyone is
extreme so helpful because it's in a time when dairy
farms are just closing down and here we are trying
to open one up. And so the state was actually
very very easy to work with. They were very helpful.
They wanted to see us succeed, and they still do.
As far as the licensing, it hasn't been that much
(09:16):
of a challenge because of all the help.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
We have received.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So that's good. So congratulations on that score. It depends
sometimes on the personality of the inspector, and with the
inspector that I had was a farm kid, and that
usually makes all the difference in the world. I understand
what the heck's going on?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You have a lot of jerseys. I'm a Jersey guy.
But also every once in a while, I'm raising a
Holdstein or a milking short hoorn or something like that,
depending on what's around. So how have you decided to
use either Jerseys or Holdstein's.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So we're again, we're a mixed hurd of Jerseys.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Hold Steines, and brown Swiss. We're a smaller herd. You know,
you mentioned yourself milking one hundred and fifty. We're doing six,
so we're probably one of the yep, just six. We're
probably one of the smallest dairy farms in the state.
But that's I think where we're able to open up
to the public do calf cuddles, because you know, we're
(10:13):
not managing a herd of three hundred people or three.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Hundred cows, you know. So yeah, So as far as
the breeds, you know, when we moved.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Here in twenty twenty, the way we got into dairy
cows is not your traditional way.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We had this property.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
We mainly had goats and chickens, and we had a
friend who had another a small, small dairy farm in
Connecticut who was moving to Georgia and the daughter who
was had two projects for h Heifer's and he was like,
you know, would you be interested in them, and I'm like, yeah,
I'm like absolutely I would. And so they were two Holsteins,
(10:52):
so we ended up getting them. One was bred, one
was not. We end up having the calf during a hurricane,
which led to the cafe need to be pulled. And
it was like a real trial by fire intro into
dairy cows.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And after that, you know, I'm chuckling at that because
I probably pulled four or five hundred cows out of
the back calves, out of the back end of But
how over my lifetime, and you know, I've seen one
of the great things when you want to remember, a
busload of children came to the farm once says a
cow is calving. As the cow is calving, the kids
(11:26):
ran out of the bus and they were spellbound, not
a peep as they watched the calf come out and
drop on the ground. And then they all started to
cry because they thought dropping the calf on the ground
was going to kill it. And then they saw the
calf shake herself off and get up and go right
for the bag, and they it was fabulous.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Less.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
These kids all live in the city. They don't know
from nothing about the mill comes from the store.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
As far as they're concerned.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, so, yeah, there were those stories we all have.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I think, Oh yeah, so you know we built built
the herd up, you know, worked you know, constructing the
you know, basically converting a section of the barn. We
took a three bay equipment garage at a dirt floor port, concrete,
reframed it, reroofed it, did all the walls, you know,
did everything. You know, we did pretty much everything ourselves
except concrete and electrical.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I had friends help with framing and plumbing.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Once we got licensed, you know, we were we have
a pretty good social media presence, so we already had people.
We'd been talking about it for a while, you know,
a couple of years at least, and once we got licensed,
you know, everyone was ready to go and excited for it.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Well, your enthusiasm is wonderful, and I think that's part
of why this works. I'm sure your wife is equally
as excited. And I think you said you were both
the police officers. Are you officers in Southbury or are
the towns? No?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So she is a police officer in another town in
Fairfield County. I currently worked part time as a police officer.
I retired early from the City of Aridon back in
twenty twenty three. I worked there from two thousand and
eight to twenty twenty three, and it was kind of
kind of came. There was a it was the right
(13:03):
time to go. The farm was getting busier. We actually
had two foster children from DCF at the time, which
we have since adopted in June of this year, so
we had them for about two and a half years.
That's we're to adopt them. At the time, it was.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Just right, you know, I didn't like the direction that
the department was.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Going as far as the administration, and definitely made the
right decision.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
You know, I'm a great believer, and the right thing
happens for the right reason at the right time, and
we find these opportunities that you have. There's some great
to pick the great pictorials, so you might go and
check out the website Guardians Farmdairy dot com plural Guardians
Farmdairy dot com. More from David Buck In a matter
(13:47):
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(14:55):
dot com. So, in terms of David Buckets here from
Guardians Farm Dealer and Creamery raising your calves, do you
leave any calves on the cows? Have I asked, because
I just moved three nurse cows. I have my farm,
and then I have my home farm down the street,
and I moved the three nurse cows and I'll one cow.
(15:17):
You know, they'll have a single calf, and a cow
can take two or three calves at once, so I
usually pick up a couple of calves and put them on.
So I've got three cows and seven calves out in
the pasture behind my house. And it's I get up
in the morning, I look out the window and it's
you know, it's it's a wonderful thing. People. I had
(15:37):
people here last night for a meeting and they look
out the window and one guy who hadn't been here before, said,
you have cows in your backyard. I said, yeah, so
it's that kind of thing. Now, can we make any
money at it? That's the next question. How are you
making this work so that you don't have to kick in?
Most every farmer I know has two jobs or three jobs.
(16:00):
And that's the disgusting part about farming in America, at
least this type of farming. In order to support the
farm habit, we have to have other jobs. And that's
one of the things that is most difficult, I think
to realize how people don't get it, or they don't
respect it, they don't want to pay what it costs.
That's another thing in terms of pricing your product. How
(16:23):
do you do it so that you know you're at
least going to break even or maybe do better than that.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The first question was about the calves. We actually do
hand raise them. We do hand raise them, and then
we keep them in group group group housing together. We
don't do our calf hutches. The other benefit of the
calf cuddles that we do is a socialization that they
get from people.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And again they're already in.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
With other calves, and it's easier for us to manage
their health and stuff like that, making sure they're drinking
enough and eating the grain.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
That they need to get.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
The other question was about finances. So again, my wife
still does work full time. We're obviously on her health
benefits and stuff like that. Would we be able to
make it work if she wasn't That's a tough question
to answer at this point.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
You know, it.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Obviously helps a lot. You know that we don't have
to pay for insurance, and she we do have the
other income coming in.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I think if she didn't work, we'd probably do more events,
more farmers' markets, you know, be open more days of
the week versus just the weekend, so we would make
the work somehow. As far as pricing our milk, you know,
I really worked hard to figure out all of our costs,
from you know, labor to any hey we have to
bring in, you know, the grain that.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
We feed the cows.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
And I came up with what I think is a
decent price, you know, of how much it costs us
to produce a gallon of milk, and then I kind
of figured again with the processing. You know, I figured
in some some cost on you know, the what the
equipment costs, and you know, the labor of pasteurizing and bottling,
and you know, we are a premium product.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You know, everyone does understand that.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
It's also a matter of scale, you know, and being
a smaller scale, you know, so obviously I'm not like
I still buy bags of grain.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I don't have a grain trug showing up to deliver bulk.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Yet, you know, trying to get a grant to you know,
get a grain bend that hasn't happened yet, that's in
the works. So no one's really kind of off at
the prices of our milk. You know, they come here
because they have that relationship with the farm. They I
mean they can literally come here and see the cows
that are producing the milk and know they're treated well
and they don't mind.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Being exactly all right, David, congratulations to you and your wife.
I see her name is Tamra, and she and you
and whatever other sources you have of help are to
be congratulated for how nicely done this is. It's a
good inspiration for people who are trying to figure As
a matter of fact, I get a couple few ideas
out of talking with you myself from my own place,
(18:52):
so that's good. That's what it's all about, sharing information.
David Buck is the owner at Guardians Farm Dairy and
Creamery in South where you can etiquette. What a great story.
Thanks David for being here on this week's American Family Farmer.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
This program was produced at Bobksound and Recording. Please visit
bobksound dot com. The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in
part by Caldron, which is the safe way for you
to lose weight and keep it off.
The American Family Farmer podcast, sponsored in part by Caldron,
The safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. David Buck will join us
from Southbury, Connecticut. Owns Guardian Farm Dairy Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut,
a working dairy farm open to visitors, so you're cut
(00:20):
out of the same cloth as I am. David. I'd
like to see people coming to the farm. It's very
helpful for people who understand about cows and milk and
what happens on the farm. You tout on your website, which,
by the way, for people who are interested. As we
go through this conversation, you go to guardiansfarmdairy dot com.
(00:45):
You're a veteran. It's the only veteran owned dairy farm
in Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, according to the Connecticut Veteran Grown program that the
State of Connecticut runs, we are the only registered veteran
owned dairy farm in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
How important is that to you and your business? I'd
mean maybe there's two fastest the question how important is
it to you personally? And then how important is that
identification to the success of the farm.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It is important to myself, you know, just to be
able to show our customers that, you know, I've kind
of myself and my wife have dedicated our lives to service.
We're both police officers as well, so it's basically, you know,
our you know, the majority of our lives has been serviced,
whether it's a law enforcement co star and now farming.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So and I do think.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
That the customers do appreciate that as well, and it's
possibly something that they do look for. I know a
lot of people who come here who are veterans themselves
are happy to support a veteran on farm.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I think they take they feel good about doing that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So you have a farm stand that's open on the weekends,
kind of like what I have on my farm. Easily farm.
You can visit the brinyard, you can go where the
calves are. You have cuddle time, and I think that's
how you describe it, right, cuddle time with the cows.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
So I'm actually sitting in the farm store right now.
Is gonna sit outside with the animals. But there it's
morning time. Servan's a little noisy, a lot of moving
going on.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
If i'd be distractings.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So we actually purchased this property in twenty twenty and
we had intentions of over time building a farm stand
somewhere on the property, but then once COVID hit and
all the fairs and farmers' markets that we normally did
were canceled, we decided to take what was my workshop
in this old hay loft that's.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Right off our driveway and turning into a store.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
The town of Southbury is very very supportive of that,
and it's been I mean everyone comes in here.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, it's like a three story.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Hayloft, you know, whitewashed walls, and it's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
So it's actually the perfect spot for it.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So yeah, But.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Regarding the calf cuddles, so we started it last year
and I saw, you know, we weren't licensed as a
dairy just yet, and we incurred a lot of delays
from COVID and you know the Pandemics supply chain issues.
So it actually took us about a year and a
half to take possession of our pasteurizer that we get
(03:11):
paid in full for and our bulk tanks. So I
was like, all right, well, we've got to figure out
a way to make money. And I saw other places
doing calf puddles. They maybe had one calf and they
were doing calf puddles and I was like, I have
multiple calves.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I'm like I could do this. And at first it was.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
A way of, you know, let's generate a little bit
more income for the farm. But what it's really transitioned
to is fostering that relationship with the customer and it
kind of ties everything together where now we are we are.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
We've been licensed for just over a year.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
So as people come here, they do the calf cuddles,
they hopefully leave with some milk.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, after they shop in the farm stand.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
But what's kind of happening is the calves from last
year as they age, and next year they'll have calf
of their own, and we'll be able to.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Say, hey, prevail.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
You know, one of our right and away hole scenes
is now producing milk. People will remember when they did
caf calls with her two years prior and really just
you know, strengthen that relationship even more.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
With the customer. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
David Buck from Guardians Farm Dairy and Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut,
is the guest this week of the American Family Farmer.
I'm Doug Stephen and she's not. She could be Elizabeth
Miller However, as a matter of fact, she is Elizabeth
Miller is one of the great reasons for going to
top looss dot com and engaging in the work of
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Speaker 1 (05:14):
Elizabeth Miller from the folks at calder Trin. Thanks Elizabeth.
Back on the American Family Farmer, I'm Doug Stephen and
David Buck who comes from the Guardian Farm Dairy and
Creamery in Southbury, Connecticut is here telling his story. I
would encourage you to listen to this story and all
(05:36):
the other stories that we have every week. Try to
find a diversity of focus other than the news and
my thoughts on certain issues that affect farming. This is
a time for us to focus on the various things
that are going on around the country. And so every
week you have the opportunity to hear the program on
a lot of great radio stations around the country, especially
(05:58):
in rural parts of America. And there's the podcast, which
you get wherever you get your podcasts that make a difference.
The americanfamilyfarmershow dot Com is available for you wherever you
get your podcasts, so you may hear half of a
story you may want to go back to listen. After
I talked about last week's program, we had a lot
of people who were interested in the information I had
(06:21):
about solar panels. And every week it's something different, so
you see the whole category there. There are hundreds and
hundreds of hours of programming for you to kind of
sort through and maybe get some expertise. This is program
is aimed at encouraging people to get into farming, stay
in farming, what's going on and farming maybe change your
direction a little bit. So if you're in the dairy
(06:42):
business and you got a lot of calves around, you
want to listen to David Buck tell us his story
about how cuddles are available. I guess you have not
just calves, you got goats too, right.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So we actually started with goats back in about twenty fifteen,
and we had we were primarily goats and chickens up
until twenty two when we started with dairy kous.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So you you'd say on the website that the milk
is lightly processed. In my mind or a lot of
people's minds, it's either processed or it isn't processed. What
does lightly processed mean?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So we do a process called VAT pasteurization.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
So you have your raw milk and then on the
other end of the spectrum you have your ultra pasturization
where it's heat up to a very high temperature and
then cool and that can kind of kill most everything
that's in there, still good for you, but it you
know a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Of the good commody that you.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Right y, So what we do is VAT pastorization is
we heat it to one hundred and forty five degrees,
hold that temperature for thirty minutes, and then cool it.
And what that does is that kills any potential pathogens.
But all that good back here you need to help digest.
It remains intact. And it's also right. Oh, the flavors amazing. Yep,
freame rises to the top. It's it's great.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yep. It's a good old way of doing things. So
how hard was it to get certification to do that?
Because we have I have sold I didn't do that
well in the process of doing a setting up a
process or actually on my farm, I was milking one
hundred and fifty cows at the time, was twenty sixteen.
Twenty seventeen, had a horrible storm. One of my buildings collapsed,
(08:15):
eight or nine cows died. The lost stuff to help.
It was thirty below zero, all that good stuff. So
I stopped milking then, and I have since. I set
up a bovine sanctuary for older cows that I don't
slaughter anything. I just raised him and he can't save
them all.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, So as far as getting you know, licensed and
everything to process, I actually I mean if I back
up just a little bit. Our barn was built in
eighteen fifty, so it was a dairy farm back you know,
early nineteen hundreds, and it hasn't been for several decades.
So I actually had the State of Connecticut dairy inspectors
come in and prior to even building anything, and I
(08:56):
had other dairy farmers committed just kind of help advise,
you know, how best to do it, and everyone is
extreme so helpful because it's in a time when dairy
farms are just closing down and here we are trying
to open one up. And so the state was actually
very very easy to work with. They were very helpful.
They wanted to see us succeed, and they still do.
As far as the licensing, it hasn't been that much
(09:16):
of a challenge because of all the help.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
We have received.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So that's good. So congratulations on that score. It depends
sometimes on the personality of the inspector, and with the
inspector that I had was a farm kid, and that
usually makes all the difference in the world. I understand
what the heck's going on?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You have a lot of jerseys. I'm a Jersey guy.
But also every once in a while, I'm raising a
Holdstein or a milking short hoorn or something like that,
depending on what's around. So how have you decided to
use either Jerseys or Holdstein's.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So we're again, we're a mixed hurd of Jerseys.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Hold Steines, and brown Swiss. We're a smaller herd. You know,
you mentioned yourself milking one hundred and fifty. We're doing six,
so we're probably one of the yep, just six. We're
probably one of the smallest dairy farms in the state.
But that's I think where we're able to open up
to the public do calf cuddles, because you know, we're
(10:13):
not managing a herd of three hundred people or three.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Hundred cows, you know. So yeah, So as far as
the breeds, you know, when we moved.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Here in twenty twenty, the way we got into dairy
cows is not your traditional way.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We had this property.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
We mainly had goats and chickens, and we had a
friend who had another a small, small dairy farm in
Connecticut who was moving to Georgia and the daughter who
was had two projects for h Heifer's and he was like,
you know, would you be interested in them, and I'm like, yeah,
I'm like absolutely I would. And so they were two Holsteins,
(10:52):
so we ended up getting them. One was bred, one
was not. We end up having the calf during a hurricane,
which led to the cafe need to be pulled. And
it was like a real trial by fire intro into
dairy cows.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And after that, you know, I'm chuckling at that because
I probably pulled four or five hundred cows out of
the back calves, out of the back end of But
how over my lifetime, and you know, I've seen one
of the great things when you want to remember, a
busload of children came to the farm once says a
cow is calving. As the cow is calving, the kids
(11:26):
ran out of the bus and they were spellbound, not
a peep as they watched the calf come out and
drop on the ground. And then they all started to
cry because they thought dropping the calf on the ground
was going to kill it. And then they saw the
calf shake herself off and get up and go right
for the bag, and they it was fabulous.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Less.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
These kids all live in the city. They don't know
from nothing about the mill comes from the store.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
As far as they're concerned.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, so, yeah, there were those stories we all have.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I think, Oh yeah, so you know we built built
the herd up, you know, worked you know, constructing the
you know, basically converting a section of the barn. We
took a three bay equipment garage at a dirt floor port, concrete,
reframed it, reroofed it, did all the walls, you know,
did everything. You know, we did pretty much everything ourselves
except concrete and electrical.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I had friends help with framing and plumbing.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Once we got licensed, you know, we were we have
a pretty good social media presence, so we already had people.
We'd been talking about it for a while, you know,
a couple of years at least, and once we got licensed,
you know, everyone was ready to go and excited for it.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Well, your enthusiasm is wonderful, and I think that's part
of why this works. I'm sure your wife is equally
as excited. And I think you said you were both
the police officers. Are you officers in Southbury or are
the towns? No?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So she is a police officer in another town in
Fairfield County. I currently worked part time as a police officer.
I retired early from the City of Aridon back in
twenty twenty three. I worked there from two thousand and
eight to twenty twenty three, and it was kind of
kind of came. There was a it was the right
(13:03):
time to go. The farm was getting busier. We actually
had two foster children from DCF at the time, which
we have since adopted in June of this year, so
we had them for about two and a half years.
That's we're to adopt them. At the time, it was.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Just right, you know, I didn't like the direction that
the department was.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Going as far as the administration, and definitely made the
right decision.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
You know, I'm a great believer, and the right thing
happens for the right reason at the right time, and
we find these opportunities that you have. There's some great
to pick the great pictorials, so you might go and
check out the website Guardians Farmdairy dot com plural Guardians
Farmdairy dot com. More from David Buck In a matter
(13:47):
of moments, I'm Doug Stephan with a quick reminder about
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dot com. So, in terms of David Buckets here from
Guardians Farm Dealer and Creamery raising your calves, do you
leave any calves on the cows? Have I asked, because
I just moved three nurse cows. I have my farm,
and then I have my home farm down the street,
and I moved the three nurse cows and I'll one cow.
(15:17):
You know, they'll have a single calf, and a cow
can take two or three calves at once, so I
usually pick up a couple of calves and put them on.
So I've got three cows and seven calves out in
the pasture behind my house. And it's I get up
in the morning, I look out the window and it's
you know, it's it's a wonderful thing. People. I had
(15:37):
people here last night for a meeting and they look
out the window and one guy who hadn't been here before, said,
you have cows in your backyard. I said, yeah, so
it's that kind of thing. Now, can we make any
money at it? That's the next question. How are you
making this work so that you don't have to kick in?
Most every farmer I know has two jobs or three jobs.
(16:00):
And that's the disgusting part about farming in America, at
least this type of farming. In order to support the
farm habit, we have to have other jobs. And that's
one of the things that is most difficult, I think
to realize how people don't get it, or they don't
respect it, they don't want to pay what it costs.
That's another thing in terms of pricing your product. How
(16:23):
do you do it so that you know you're at
least going to break even or maybe do better than that.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The first question was about the calves. We actually do
hand raise them. We do hand raise them, and then
we keep them in group group group housing together. We
don't do our calf hutches. The other benefit of the
calf cuddles that we do is a socialization that they
get from people.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And again they're already in.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
With other calves, and it's easier for us to manage
their health and stuff like that, making sure they're drinking
enough and eating the grain.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
That they need to get.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
The other question was about finances. So again, my wife
still does work full time. We're obviously on her health
benefits and stuff like that. Would we be able to
make it work if she wasn't That's a tough question
to answer at this point.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
You know, it.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Obviously helps a lot. You know that we don't have
to pay for insurance, and she we do have the
other income coming in.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I think if she didn't work, we'd probably do more events,
more farmers' markets, you know, be open more days of
the week versus just the weekend, so we would make
the work somehow. As far as pricing our milk, you know,
I really worked hard to figure out all of our costs,
from you know, labor to any hey we have to
bring in, you know, the grain that.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
We feed the cows.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
And I came up with what I think is a
decent price, you know, of how much it costs us
to produce a gallon of milk, and then I kind
of figured again with the processing. You know, I figured
in some some cost on you know, the what the
equipment costs, and you know, the labor of pasteurizing and bottling,
and you know, we are a premium product.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
You know, everyone does understand that.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
It's also a matter of scale, you know, and being
a smaller scale, you know, so obviously I'm not like
I still buy bags of grain.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I don't have a grain trug showing up to deliver bulk.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Yet, you know, trying to get a grant to you know,
get a grain bend that hasn't happened yet, that's in
the works. So no one's really kind of off at
the prices of our milk. You know, they come here
because they have that relationship with the farm. They I
mean they can literally come here and see the cows
that are producing the milk and know they're treated well
and they don't mind.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Being exactly all right, David, congratulations to you and your wife.
I see her name is Tamra, and she and you
and whatever other sources you have of help are to
be congratulated for how nicely done this is. It's a
good inspiration for people who are trying to figure As
a matter of fact, I get a couple few ideas
out of talking with you myself from my own place,
(18:52):
so that's good. That's what it's all about, sharing information.
David Buck is the owner at Guardians Farm Dairy and
Creamery in South where you can etiquette. What a great story.
Thanks David for being here on this week's American Family Farmer.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
This program was produced at Bobksound and Recording. Please visit
bobksound dot com. The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in
part by Caldron, which is the safe way for you
to lose weight and keep it off.
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