meet your neighbors
Clint Ballard and his family offer raw milk from their Jersey cows, as well as other farm products.
Catering to Raw Milk Lovers By Terry Ropp
Milk and Honey Hill Farm moves toward Jersey cows and A2/A2 production Clint and Joy Ballard own Milk than being homeschooled, the children and Honey Hill Farm on 40 acres attended two different schools, which in the community of New Blaine, required Joy driving three hours per day. Ark. They run a small-scale, diverse fam- Further, Clint didn’t want the family to ily farm producing raw cow milk, honey, continue milking in addition to all the other chores involved with the family’s eggs, pork, firewood and more. Clint grew up on a cow/calf operation. dual mission of promoting income secuAs a youngster, his job was to milk their rity through diversity and creating better single Guernsey cow while his brothers food security for themselves and their customers. The result was suspending the worked with beef cattle. Joy was raised in town until she was 5. raw milk part of their income. Bottle calves were purchased, with one Then she and her entire family went to Papua New Guinea where her parents highly-productive cow needing to nurse served as missionaries. The family re- four calves in order to accommodate her turned to the United States when she milk production. Clint is now moving was 13. the dairy herd toward The couple purA2/A2 genetics using chased land in 2016 AI and a Jersey cleanand began milking in up bull. Recently the 2017. An important first heifer born and consideration in everyraised on the farm had thing they do is Clint her first calf. When the serving as a Special calf was born. Forces medic in the The couple selected Army National Guard. Jersey rather than the After having served Guernsey from Clint’s on active duty for 10 childhood as their years, Clint joined the milking breed. Of National Guard and course, a prime considwill soon be retiring eration for a raw milk after 21 years. During dairy is the higher fat that time, Clint was content, which is up to deployed to eight different countries while Joy and their five chil- 6.8 percent for Jerseys as opposed to 5 dren – Aidan (15), Lily (13), Grace (10), percent with Guernseys, and a little less Gabriel (8) and Serenity (5) – maintained than 4 percent with Holsteins. “I felt Jerseys made more sense for us the farm during his sporadic absences. because they have a smaller Everything changed last frame and are more docile; year when Clint was dein addition to being good ployed for six months to New Blaine, Ark grazers in Arkansas’s hotter Africa. The six-month declimate,” Clint said. ployment required major An equally important considadjustments, especially in eration centers around milk proterms of the children’s edutein gene markers. The huge macation and the dairy. Rather
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jority of milking cattle have a mixture of A1/A2 genes with only a small percentage having A2/A2 genes. Research suggests A2/A2 milk may be easier to digest, perhaps most important for those who are lactose intolerant. In Arkansas, farms such as the Ballard’s, can sell up to 500 gallons of raw milk off the farm and they usually produce about 300 gallons with any extra going to make personal use yogurt and butter. Most dairy customers drink and cook with the milk and are within 30 miles. Nearby Subiaco is home to Subiaco Academy (a boarding school). Parents, who come from as far away as Louisiana, Texas, Fort Smith or Little Rock, will occasionally buy several gallons at a time when visiting their children. Other dairy customers are artisan cheesemakers. While at this point Milk and Honey Hill Farm has no production contracts, the cheesemaking market is important. Customers include Hispanic families who often make queso fresco, an unaged, semisoft cheese with a mild, slightly salty flavor and a moist and creamy texture that complements Mexican and other Latin American cuisines. Joy has taught butter
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and cheesemaking in the past, and looks forward to doing so when family life returns to normal with Clint’s return. The Ballard’s currently have five Jersey cows and retain heifers so they can expand their milk production. Because Clint prefers calving to coincide with green up, two-thirds are born in the spring and one-third in the fall. Larger spring calving lowers annual feed costs with a 10 percent protein five-way blend from their local coop used during milking. Extra bottle calves are fed out for personal meat consumption and sold to cover winter hay expenses. The NRCS has helped ease the burden of start-up capital for key infrastructure on the farm such as water lines, stock waterer, tree thinning and electric fencing. The farm uses rotational grazing organized around a centrally located frostfree waterer with paddocks radiating out and defined by high tensile electric fencing. Silvo-pasture is the blending of forestry and grazing. Tree density is managed to provide sufficient sunlight to reach the pasture. In turn the grazing animals prune and deposit fertilizer for the trees which will produce high quality Pine and hardwood saw logs in 15 JUNE 15, 2020
