The kind of cow matters, but what matters more?

The Cow Is Only Part of the Picture

When people talk about raw milk, the conversation often starts with the cow. What breed is it? Jersey or Holstein? A2 or A1? Old-world genetics or modern lines?

Those questions aren’t wrong—but they’re incomplete.

Over the years, the Keim's learned that the cow is only one part of a much bigger picture. How animals are managed, how the land is treated, and how everything fits together day after day matters far more than any single label.

It’s Not About the Breed — It’s About Management

We don’t get hung up on the breed of cow we milk.

Atlee and his family milk their cows by hand every day. That alone changes the equation. Over time, they’ve largely bred their own cows—selecting animals that are calm, manageable, and have teats well-suited to hand milking. These cows fit the system, rather than forcing the system to fit a particular breed ideal.

In other words, the cows are shaped by the way they’re cared for, not by chasing trends or checklists. Good milk doesn’t come from a particular breed; it comes from thoughtful, consistent management and animals that thrive in their environment.

Grass, Movement, and Seasonal Reality

The Keim dairy herd is 100% grass-fed and managed with daily intention.

During the growing season, the cows are rotated onto fresh grass every single day. This constant movement keeps forage in its most nutritious state, supports healthy soils, and allows the land time to recover between grazings.

In the winter months—when Ohio pastures are dormant—the herd transitions to a blend of carefully stored, premium forages. This isn’t an afterthought; it’s a continuation of the same principle: meeting the animals where they are, season by season, without forcing production beyond what the land can support.

The result is a system that respects both the cows and the landscape they depend on.

Poultry, Pasture, and the Bigger System

In the summer months, Atlee also raises broiler chickens in movable coops on the same land used by the dairy herd.

This matters more than most people realize.

Very few dairy operations also integrate poultry onto the same pastures. Chickens naturally fertilize the soil, cycle nutrients, and increase biological activity. Over time, this creates healthier summer pastures and more nutrient-dense stored forage for winter feeding.

It’s a quiet kind of stacking—animals working together instead of competing— where cows and chickens each play a role in building soil health and long-term fertility.

Milk Is the Outcome, Not the Starting Point

When you look closely, high-quality milk isn’t the result of one decision. It’s the outcome of hundreds of small, daily choices: how animals are handled, how land is rested, how seasons are respected, and how systems are allowed to work together instead of being pushed.

That’s why we say the cow is only part of the picture.

The real story is management, land, and care—done consistently, over time, by people who are deeply connected to both their animals and their place.

And that story is what ultimately ends up in the jar.