Cows R Us History

July 2008, Diamond Hill Dairy changed owners to become Cows R Us (CRU).

It is so hard to give up what you a comfortable with. We were use to how things had been handled with Diamond Hill for the past 18 month. It was hard to say good-bye to the owners but we were hopeful the new owners would work out; not like we had any viable options.

David and I drove to the Dairy. The first thing that struck us as we turned the corner from Wall St was there were no more trees. The entrance was wide open and easy to see. The drive was graded and graveled. We pulled in and were immediately greeted by a lady who approached us with hand outstretched. She introduced herself as Jennifer Tessier and introduced us to the other family members present: her teenage son, her daughter and small grand-baby.

Her daughter and son assisted David getting the bags into the pick-up area while I spoke with Jennifer. I was unable to assist because I was on crutches. Jennifer and I talked about how our coop had been doing business with Diamond Hill; it was decided we would continue the same procedures for ordering and pick-up.

Before we loaded the truck, we realized the truck keys were locked inside the truck. It took over an hour for AAA to find us and open the door. The iced down bags of milk stayed inside the building until we were ready to go.

During that hour, we got to know Jennifer and her family well. She shared her dreams for the Dairy ~ this property and the business were to be Dale and Jennifer's retirement property. They had been commercial dairy farmer for over 25 years, first in Vermont and then in S. Carolina. They were looking to get away from the big commercial aspect and looking forward to improving this property for their home and for the cows.

In additional to clearing the woods at the front of the property and the obvious driveway improvements, Jennifer also pointed out the acreage that had been clear-cut and seeded for additional pastures for the cows. We discussed the herd ~ many of the cows were old. Especially when the average life of dairy cow in a commercial dairy is 7 years, most of the cows purchased from Diamond Hill were over 10 years in age.

Jennifer related CRU were working with a veterinarian. This professional was concerned with many of the animals health; he considered many to be undernourished. He recommended a qualified Animal Nutritionist to work with the Tessier to bring the dairy cows to optimum health.

As we were leaving that day, I truly felt that milk supply was in good hands.