June 2, 2017
CapitalPress.com
Dairy farmer shares industry’s
story by engaging its critics
By SUZANNE FRARY
For the Capital Press
CHEHALIS, Wash. —
Dairy farmer Michelle Schil-
ter had an encounter with
animal-rights activists last
March that she said was an
eye-opener.
She saw the activists at
South by Southwest, a food
and technology conference in
Austin, Texas.
She introduced herself as a
dairy farmer and asked what
they hope to accomplish.
They wanted to end factory
farming.
“I asked them, ‘What’s
your definition of a factory
farm?’” she said.
The activists couldn’t say.
“They wanted to end
something, but they couldn’t
say exactly what that was,”
she said.
Michelle was at the con-
ference representing Dairy
Management Inc., which was
there to promote dairy prod-
ucts. She serves on the nation-
al organization’s board.
She is also chairwoman of
the Washington Dairy Prod-
ucts Commission.
The commission and
DMI encourage farmers to
use social media to tell their
stories to reach the “mov-
able middle.”
“They’re the people who
aren’t sure if dairy is healthy,
or if they should be using al-
mond milk instead,” she said.
Michelle said dairy farm-
ers often hesitate to talk to
the public. They worry ani-
mal-rights groups might tar-
get them, she said.
“They think, ‘Why do I
want to waste my time with
an activist on Facebook when
I’m dealing with things on my
farm?’” she said.
She and her husband,
Lonny, are third-generation
farmers. They own Sun-Ton
Farms, a 180-acre organic
dairy near Chehalis, Wash.
The farm has about 220
Suzanne Frary/For the Capital Press
Dairy farmer Michelle Schilter gives her calf, Bootleg, a rub April
15 in the barn at Sun-Ton Farms in Chehalis, Wash. Schilter and
her husband, Lonny, keep between 450 and 500 red-and-white
Holsteins on their 180-acre organic dairy.
milking cows in a 450- to
500-head herd of red-and-
white Holsteins.
Lonny grew up on a farm
in Auburn, Wash., before his
family moved their dairy to
Chehalis in the early 1990s.
Michelle grew up in Califor-
nia’s Napa Valley, studied ag-
riculture in college, but didn’t
farm until she met Lonny. The
couple have three teenagers.
The dairy transitioned to
organic in 2006.
“It was the best decision,”
Michelle said. Prices for or-
ganic milk are less volatile
than for conventional milk,
she said.
The farm belongs to the
Darigold co-op, and its milk
is sold through Horizon.
Michelle raises the farm’s
calves, some of which
move next door to the dairy
owned by Lonny ’s parents.
Her 3-year-old calf barn is
self-flushing and has auto-
matic curtains that adjust for
ventilation.
A few weeks after the con-
ference in Texas, a windstorm
ripped off the commodity
barn’s roof and rain ruined
the feed and bedding stored
inside.
The dairy’s nutrition-
ist temporarily adjusted the
cows’ diet to include more al-
falfa and less grain. Keeping
cows healthy is the first pri-
ority on an organic dairy, said
Michelle.
“We have so few options
for treating illness,” she said.
“If a cow needs antibiotics,
we give it, but the cow has to
leave the herd.”
People are curious about
dairy farms, she said.
Michelle said people want
to know if she treats her ani-
mals humanely. They want to
know if she names her cows,
and if the dairy produces a
“clean product,” she said. “I
do all of that, everything they
say they want.”
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