Happier Cows Make More Milk: The Fight to Save Small Farms

Can technology save small-scale agriculture? Big Burrito Restaurant Group corporate chef Bill Fuller and Rivendale Farms general manager Christine Grady join hosts Debbie and Billy Shore from their hometown of Pittsburgh to talk about food and the future of sustainable agriculture. Grady describes robotic milking systems that allow for 15% more milk from less-stressed cows. “If the cows are getting anxious, that affects the yield and the quality of the milk,” she says. Fuller was on the cutting edge of the sustainable food movement in Pittsburgh twenty years ago. “It was great to watch this transition and transformation and ride along with it. It was really sort of beautiful,” he says.

 

“So many aspects of our community start to unravel and fray as a result of the disappearance of small farms,” observes Billy Shore. Fuller asks Grady, “Farmers in general are really conservative and slow to change. What are your thoughts on getting farmers to adopt the new technology?” Grady responds that the key may be young farmers. “One of the things that’s incredibly important is to attract the younger generation into farming… You actually need to attract a new workforce that is more interested in looking how to innovate,” she explains.

 

Listen to this important conversation about the confluence of technology, innovation and sustainability.