The True Definition of Stewardship – Interview with Suzanne – Reverence Farms
Raising dairy cows and calves on a small scale looks romantic from the outside, but behind every pretty pasture photo is a stack of hard lessons, and years of trial and error. My recent conversation with Suzanne, a long‑time micro dairy farmer and Jersey breeder, reveals what it really takes to steward cows well in an era shaped more by marketing slogans than by stockmanship.
Raising Calves on Cows: The Middle Ground No One Talks About
Suzanne’s farm raises all calves on their own mothers rather than removing the calf from the cow and raising them on a bucket or a bottle. Many farms that raise dairy calves on cows use a nurse herd, but not Suzanne. She has been doing some form of cow‑calf dairying for about 17 years. That experience has taught her that there is such a thing as too much milk for a modern dairy calf, especially when the cow has been bred for high production far beyond what a single calf can safely handle.
Many new farmers, reacting against conventional hutches and twice‑a‑day milk feedings, swing to the opposite extreme: unrestricted milk on the dam and the belief that “more is always better.” Suzanne has seen the consequences of this excess, including crashes, health issues, and long‑term setbacks, and argues that finding a middle ground is essential because today’s dairy genetics produce milk for the tank, not just the calf.
Why Beef Rules Don’t Fit Dairy Cows
One common pushback Suzanne hears is: “But beef calves nurse all they want and do fine.” The key difference is that beef cows simply do not produce the same volume of milk as high‑producing dairy cows, so copying beef management onto dairy animals can be disastrous. On Suzanne’s farm, every calf stays with its own dam rather than being grafted onto a nurse cow, because in mixed groups, the timid or less aggressive calves too often lose out on milk which is difficult to identify until they are already behind developmentally.
This commitment is not just about sentiment. Suzanne tried a nurse herd, found that the social dynamics and discrimination between their own calf and grafted calves led to unseen underfeeding for some animals, and deliberately chose to return to the more emotionally and logistically demanding model of mother‑raised calves. It is not the most profitable way to participate in the commercial milk market, but for Reverence Farms most of their farm income comes primarily from beef—culled cows, heifers that do not breed, and intact bulls harvested for meat—so dairying can be oriented around stewardship and genetics, not just volume.
Breeding for Milk Sharing and Grass‑Based Performance
A major goal on Suzanne’s farm is to breed cows that can successfully “share” milk—letting down for the milking parlor even while raising their own calf. Most dairy cows under conventional selection prefer to hold up milk for their calves, especially the richer hind milk, which means the farmer can be left with low‑butterfat milk in the parlor and an overfed calf once the cow leaves. Suzanne believes the ability to let down while the calf is on the cow is a heritable trait, even if no one is formally studying it, and has spent years proving specific Jersey bulls by tracking how their daughters perform under this system.
Proving a bull for this kind of trait takes about eight years: the bull must be born, mature, breed cows, those daughters must be raised, calved in, and milked for at least one or two lactations before any pattern emerges. To support this long‑term project, she maintains around 60 Jersey bulls on the farm and more off‑farm working as breeding bulls and relies on a beef business so that “failed experiments” still have value as meat. In addition to milk‑sharing, she also selects for cows that can genuinely perform on grass, because the farm has been grass‑fed for 17 years, even though her views on the wider grass‑fed movement have become far more critical.
The Hard Truth About “Grass‑Fed”
Suzanne describes the modern grass‑fed dairy movement is in many cases, “a movement of starvation,” especially when applied on poor, exhausted soils in the American South. Grass‑fed can work, she emphasizes, but only if the forage truly “feeds like grain”—high in energy, protein, and digestible fiber, as proven by forage tests. That is often possible in the Upper Midwest, where sweeter soils and long winters under snow help preserve and regenerate soil structure and organic matter.
By contrast, many new homesteaders are buying dairy cows in regions like Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, where soils are acidic, worn‑out former plantation ground, and the climate allows 300‑plus days of oxidation with very little true winter rest. Without ongoing soil feeding and improved grazing management, pastures there cannot support the metabolic demands of a modern dairy cow that was previously maintained on corn silage and high‑powered rations. Suzanne’s first piece of advice for aspiring dairy keepers is simple and blunt: the cow’s nutritional needs do not change because of a human philosophy, preference, or something read on a milk carton.
Marketing Myths vs. Production Reality
One of the most damaging errors Suzanne sees among new farmers is importing consumer‑side marketing ideas directly into production practices. Phrases like “grass‑fed,” “no antibiotics ever,” and “healthy animals don’t get sick” make for compelling labels but do not reflect the messy reality of livestock biology and soil ecology. Many people arrive at dairy believing that if they avoid conventional medicine, feed “naturally,” and keep everything “clean,” they will never face serious health problems in their herd.
In practice, animals get sick because nature is not perfect, and ignoring that fact only leaves people unprepared in moments of crisis. Suzanne and her husband, veterinarian Hubert, now spend much of their time mentoring small farmers.
A Vet, a Farmer, and 40 Years of Dairy Experience
Hubert brings three decades of small‑dairy experience to the partnership, including years as an organic dairy vet in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, serving about 150 mostly Amish clients. When the National Organic Program was new and “no antibiotics ever” became a rallying cry, he was forced to find ways to support cow health without conventional pharmaceuticals, which led him to develop herbal and nutritional products that the couple now sells to both commercial farmers and homesteaders.
Marrying Hubert changed Suzanne’s perspective on many “natural” assumptions, particularly the idea that good management eliminates the need for veterinary intervention. Together they have come to see that real stewardship combines excellent nutrition and husbandry with the humility to prepare for problems, learn basic veterinary skills, and recognize when a situation is beyond home remedies.
The Stockholders Exchange: Rebuilding a Culture of Stockmanship
Out of this blend of experience grew the Stockholders Exchange, a membership community of about 330 people who receive ongoing mentorship from Suzanne and Hubert. Members can access guidance on recognizing illnesses, choosing and using the right supplies, and avoiding repeat problems, with the goal of building real stockmanship.
To support members and non‑members alike, Suzanne and Hubert have also created an extensive digital manual that includes at least 250 case‑based videos and explanations covering common and not‑so‑common problems. Many of these focus on calving, metabolic issues such as low calcium, and other emergencies in which timely, informed action can mean the difference between a live cow and calf and a devastating loss. If someone could buy only one resource from them, Suzanne says it would be this manual, because it delivers vetted, experience‑based advice when minutes matter.
Herbal Tools and a Real First Aid Kit
In addition to educational materials, the farm offers a line of tinctures and a veterinary‑curated first aid kit designed specifically for homesteaders and small farms. The six main tinctures—Eat Well, Tummy Well, Live Well, Get Well, Breathe Well, and Feel Well—are formulated to be intuitive to use, with names that reflect their primary support: digestion, sour stomach, liver, immune system, respiratory function, and pain/aches, respectively. Suzanne emphasizes that these are not magic bullets or substitutes for good feeding but tools that help animals feel better and start eating again so they can “eat their way through” many problems.
The first aid kit is built around real veterinary equipment and supplies that small farmers often need but do not realize they should have on hand until a crisis hits. It is deliberately not a cute bucket of grooming tools and halters; instead, it reflects the hard reality that many rural vets either cannot come or lack up‑to‑date dairy experience, leaving homesteaders to bridge the gap themselves with proper tools and training.
Why Wisdom Matters More Than Labels
A theme running through Suzanne’s story is that wisdom must come before innovation. She urges new farmers to start by following basic, conventional guidelines for their species, earn the right to “break the rules” by understanding where those rules have levers, and resist the temptation to jump straight into extreme philosophies. Ignoring foundational nutrition and management in favor of ideals like “grass‑fed only” or “no vet ever” does not make farming more natural; it just makes animals suffer and people burn out.
At the same time, she is hopeful about the micro dairy movement and the possibility of rebuilding a culture where agriculture once again acts as the heartbeat of rural communities. Through their own 60‑cow herd, long‑term Jersey breeding program, educational manual, Stockholders Exchange, and herbal/apothecary tools, Suzanne and Hubert are working to fill the knowledge gap so that a new generation of dairy keepers can steward cows well, not just adopt fashionable labels.
Thank you, Suzanne and Hubert, for all you do to improve the quality of life for small farmers and their animals! You are making a difference that blesses many communities and improves food quality for many families!
Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.