Regenerative Farming
Preserving Our Land for the Future
You may have heard the term ‘regenerative farming,’ but what does it mean? At South Mountain Creamery, it means we use practices that protect our land, improve biodiversity, and help our farm stay healthy and productive!
On our 3,300 acres, we use regenerative farming techniques, which help keep our crops and animals healthy while supporting a sustainable food system. We’ve been caring for this land for over 40 years, and we want to make sure it’s in great shape for the next generation.
Smart Water Use & Recycling
Every drop counts! With 600 cows drinking 30–50 gallons per day, we need 18,000–30,000 gallons daily. However, we use a closed-loop system to reuse water 3–5 times, reducing the extra water we need for milk production.
Each day, we first cool 5,200 gallons of milk with water using a plate heat exchanger. The same water is reused multiple times to preheat wash water, hydrate our cows, collect manure, clean the barns and the cows’ sand beds, and finally it’s filtered through to the ground for enhancing our healthy, carbon-rich soil. Finally, that nutrient-rich water is spread on the fields to grow more healthy grass to feed the cows!
Grass-Fed For Greatness
To make our delicious grass-fed dairy, our cows need a lot of grass, which means we need healthy soil full of minerals, microorganisms, moisture, and nutrients.
We use regenerative farming practices like no-till and cover crops to keep the soil protected and full of beneficial nutrients for our cows. By planting different crops like corn, soy, and sorghum, we are able to grow a year-round living root system: a strong foundation of organic matter that retains carbon, reduces dirt compaction, and leads to rich, productive soil.
We also test our fields and manure several times a year and use the results to make adjustments to our fields, such as rotating cover crops, moving cows to different pastures, or applying nutrients to make sure our soil and cows are getting everything they need.
Energy Conservation Efforts
Did you know that 10 cows can produce 1 ton of methane, a greenhouse gas, every year? We care about our cows and climate, so we’re always looking for new ways to reduce our climate impact through carbon, water and electricity innovations. It takes a lot of water, electricity, and resources to run a farm, and that’s why we look for smart, innovative ways to conserve energy.
Across our 3,300 acres, we capture an estimated 4,260–11,505 metric tons of CO₂e each year. That’s the same as:
Offsetting emissions from ~1,700 cars every year
Carbon stored by 125,000 tree seedlings over 10 years
Robotic Milking System
Our robotic milking barn is one way we cut down on the electricity required to run our farm. Compared to a traditional milking parlor, the robotic milking system is more energy efficient, and the LED lights and magnetic drive fans also cut down on electricity usage.
With support from the State of Maryland and local conservation funds, we’re building systems to capture and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and efficiently separate waste for other uses.
Our Promise To You
Everything we do is for the health and wellness of our animals, land, and community. Want to learn more? Our working farm is open to visitors!