On a ridge above James River sits a beautiful dairy called Lorenae. Lorenae Dairy is the only state licensed Grade A raw milk provider in Missouri. Bruce and Debbie Salisbury, who have been in the dairy business for several decades, came out of retirement to be part of this agricultural industry that they have loved so much.
The name, Lorenae, came from combining both Bruce and Debbie’s middle names, which have been in their families for several generations. They built Lorenae from the ground up just eight years ago with plans to produce fresh cheese. Bruce started with 15 head of registered Jersey cows, “I wanted an all Jersey herd because of the higher components their milk supplies.” Soon after he bought 40 more head and has maintained a herd of that size since then. He likes the Jersey breed not only for their high milk-fat that is beneficial in cheese production, but also likes the cows structure, “It’s a tough, durable little cow, with calving ease and they take the heat well.”
At Lorenae the milk is scheduled either for cheese-making, bottled for drinking or kept in the bulk tank for pick-up. In the milk-barn, that is kept very clean, they have a large boiler that provides steam used for pasteurizing the milk used for cheese production. They also have all the equipment for packaging and labeling their cheese. In another area of their barn is the bottling station. The state-of-the-art set-up controls the entire bottling of the milk keeping it from ever coming in contact with air. This high tech packaging (along with the low levels of bacterias) allows their bottled milk to have a 21-day shelf life. They bottle between 120-140 gallons of milk at one time. In another room of their milk-barn is the bulk milk-tank that is filled with milk to be picked up regularly by Central Equity Co-op for processed milk products.
Bruce likes his “Herringbone” milk station system and can milk up to eight cows at a time. Maintenance and attention to sanitation is very important in the Salisbury operation. Bruce explained, “To ward off bacteria I change liners every 900 milkings, change inflations regularly, and use quality pre-dips and post-dips (on the cows teats).” They also have monthly herd health check-ups with their local veterinarian. Debbie said, “We don’t like to put out fires,” expressing her desire to find and take care of health issues before they are a problem. Qualifying for the licensing that establishes their dairy as a Grade A raw milk provider is very stringent and testing of their milk is done monthly. The Salisbury’s maintain five state licenses with four state inspectors. While regular dairies somatic cell count can be up to 400,000 the typical count for Salisbury’s milk is 40,000.
The Salisbury’s dairy herd is retained by raising their own replacement heifers from their herd. “We use a bull for breeding natural service, and keep a closed herd. All of our cows are raised here on the farm. We get a good virgin bull from a nationally renowned Jersey herd every 18-24 months. The young bull stays with the smaller heifers (which are around 800 pounds) to be bred, and as he ages, he will get moved to the cow herd.”
Even with all that Lorenea Dairy does to diversify and have “value-added” products, they are still worried about the future of dairy farming in Southwest Missouri. Drought conditions over this summer and last has steepened the cost of feeding their herd. Bruce buys all his hay and grain, which used to be reasonable.
The Salisbury’s are also challenged with selling and marketing their in-house products. The cheese can be sold in stores because it is a pasteurized product, but they are still unlawfully able to sell their Grade A raw milk in stores because it is limited to sell either off-the-farm or directly from them. They are hoping for some changes in the regulations so that some local grocers and health food stores can stock their shelves with it. But until then, all of their raw milk is either sold at their farm, where it is available at all times, and at the Greater Springfield Farmer’s Market during it’s operating hours in the parking lot of Battlefield Mall in Springfield.
Bruce and Debbie always encourage visitors to Lorenae and enjoy the chance to share with young and old the benefits of raw milk and how they run their milking operation and herd. They are located right off of scenic highway 413 in Galena, and just a mile from the historic “Y” bridge. Living on a popular route to Branson, they have had the pleasure of hosting many travelers from all over the country and the world.
