Slow Turtle Farm LLC

18/08/2025

This breaks my heart for my friend.

17/08/2025

There are always people on my feed that complain about big factory farms. There's really no such thing. A dairy farm is a dairy farm, scale is just a number.
Cows NEED to be healthy and comfortable to make milk. A farm's number one job is to provide a living for themselves. To do that their number one goal is making the best milk with the highest components (protein and fats) that their cows can provide for many years.
It takes 2 years for a baby cow to become a milking cow. Replacing a cow is a costly adventure, so cows need to provide for many years. Learn the truth about dairy farms.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JMAt8er1o/

15/08/2025

More on the Keely Farms Dairy saga.

The FL Department of Health has blamed Keely Farms Dairy for an alleged disease outbreak without fully investigating their operations or testing milk samples.

13/08/2025

The state health department used an algorithm called Pulsenet that linked cases of 2 different unrelated bacteria infections over 8 months and then "linked" Keely Farms to cases. This is so unprofessional. On a good note, the Florida Surgeon General supports raw milk consumption.

12/08/2025

I agree with these statements. Unpasteurized milk in a regulated setting, is much safer than it could be without oversight. I'm not a libertarian in this regard for farms in the south. I have made my arguments why in another post.

💪🥛💪7 IMPORTANT REFERENCES ABOUT BENEFITS AND SAFETY OF RAW MILK👇👇👇.

1. NO INCREASE IN ILLNESSES ASSOCIATED WITH RAW MILK LEGALIZATION - Trends in Burdens of Disease by Transmission Source (USA, 2005–2020) and Hazard Identification for Foods: Focus on Milkborne Disease (Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44197-024-00216-6

2. WITH FARMER TRAINING, RAW MILK OUTBREAKS ARE DECREASING EVEN THOUGH CONSUMPTION OF RAW MILK IS INCREASING - Recent Trends in Unpasteurized Fluid Milk Outbreaks, Legalization, and Consumption in the United States (PLOS Currents) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140832/

3. RAW MILK INSTITUTE METHOD (INC. FARMER TRAINING, HIGH STANDARDS, & ONGOING TESTING) WORKS TO PRODUCE LOW-RISK RAW MILK - Raw milk producers with high levels of hygiene and safety (Cambridge Journal of Epidemiology and Infection) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7019599/

4. KIDS WHO DRINK RAW MILK HAVE LOWER RATES OF ASTHMA & ALLERGIES - The protective effect of farm milk consumption on childhood asthma and atopy: The GABRIELA Study of 8,334 children (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(11)01234-6/fulltext

5. KIDS WHO DRINK RAW MILK HAVE LOWER RATES OF ECZEMA & ALLERGIES - Which aspects of the farming lifestyle explain the inverse association with childhood allergy? study of 4,767 European children (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(06)00651-8/fulltext

6. RAW MILK PROTECTS AGAINST EAR INFECTION, FEVERS, & RESPIRATORY INFECTION - Consumption of unprocessed cow's milk protects infants from common respiratory infections study of 983 European infants (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2814%2901274-3/fulltext

7. IT’S NOT THE FARM EFFECT, IT’S THE RAW MILK - The Beneficial Effect of Farm Milk Consumption on Asthma, Allergies, and Infections (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31770653

12/08/2025

I told a reader that they would not need to look up the CDC data. I would do it myself. The CDC website and the Cambridge Study are sited at the end, so anyone can look it all up themselves.
I did not go deep dive, but what I found is about what I thought I would find.

Excerpts-

1. Champylbacter is no longer being followed for tracing as of this year due to too many multi-vector antagonists to conclude specific origin. That makes me question the time lines of 2008-2018 where most of these studies are derived from.

2. Dairy is pretty far down the graph for illness. Salmonella 2.4% of all dairy, E.Coli 3.3%, and Listeria takes dairy to the top of the chart at 37.3% of all outbreaks; pasteurized, non-pasteurized, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc. It's all lumped into one bowl. There is one study, Cambridge, done for the CDC, with graphs that I'll add that breaks down raw milk because that's all there really is that the lay person can easily see.

3. Even though raw milk is so far down the list, the CDC says that only pasteurized milk and dairy products should be consumed. They do not villainize other raw food groups.

4. Cambridge also studied beneficial effects of raw milk. I posted 1 below. There are others, some debunked, some validated.

4. Chicken will kill you!

https://www.cdc.gov/food-safety/php/data-research/foodborne-illness-sources/index.html

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/foodborne-illness-outbreaks-linked-to-unpasteurised-milk-and-relationship-to-changes-in-state-laws-united-states-19982018/4822109E69DDAB37E92CAAB41AB1CC0F

11/08/2025

This is so relevant this week.

Dihydrogen monoxide, also known as DHMO, can be pretty scary stuff. It corrodes metal, is a major component of acid rain, is found in cancerous tumors, is used in nuclear weapons, and contact with it can cause severe burns. It is found in all streams, rivers, and oceans. It is very addictive and a full withdrawal from it will kill a person. Every single person who comes in contact with it will die.

So why aren't people protesting the use of DHMO? Why isn't it banned?

Because dihydrogen (two hydrogen atoms) monoxide (one oxygen atom), aka DHMO, is the chemical makeup of water. Yes, water! Not so scary anymore, is it?

My point is that anything can be made to sound scary. Facts can be twisted in a way that can make something sound horrible. Unfortunately, it is typically easier to believe scary stories and twisted facts than it is to believe the truth.

I'll give activists one thing, they typically have the art of fear mongering and deception down. They can make agriculture sound just as bad as I made water sound. I know farmers were a bit late to the social media game, but please, if you have a question ask a farmer. There are so many farmers on social media who would love to explain to you what really happens on a farm and why we do what we do.

Water isn't trying to kill you and neither are farmers. And just like water, you need farmers to survive. Instead of biting the hand that feeds you, ask us your questions. Not Google.

19/05/2025

You know how important it is to give youth a chance to explore their world.
I mentor the Mount Dora FFA Dairy Goat Program.

Please sign the petition to tell Lake County how important the Horticulture Program is to students.

One of my past students has spent 2024/2025 as the FFA State Vice President. He received many accolades and scholarships in Horticulture. It would be sad to lose the program because Board leaders dont realize how important it is.

Save Mount Dora FFA’s Horticulture Program

14/03/2025

I was released by my surgeon to resume activities. Hubby asks, "Doc, is that normal people resume or farmer resume". Doc looks me in the eye and says, don't try everything at once. OK.
That was last week. Pictures of this week, not including beginning disbudding for other farms.
I am exhausted!

12/02/2025

We made a foray off farm to attend the Florida State Fair with one of my students from Mount Dora Ffa. Another student came to handle on Saturday and a graduated student came to say hi.
We did not bring home any champion wins, but my students learned a great deal!

05/12/2024

Updates on who will be in attendance for farm recovery efforts.