Sustainability
At Eby Manor we are focused on practicing sustainable farming.
Glass Bottled Milk
We've been selling our milk in glass bottles from the very beginning. It keeps the milk tasting pure and free of residues. Plus, it's reusable and recyclable.
Our bottles have a refundable $2.00 deposit and the bottle caps are recyclable. We encourage customers to wash their bottles before returning them to keep them in good condition and avoid bacterial buildup. Bottles that are unsuitable for reuse are disposed.
Zero Waste Practices
There are several actions we take to reduce our waste, here are some examples.
When we have an excess of short dated products we:
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Donate milk and cream to Ray of Hope (Kitchener)
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Feed milk or yogurt to the calves
When we get our 300g cheese blocks, we also receive the cheese ends (odd pieces) which we:
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Sell at a discount at Eby's Dairy Market
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Sell to restaurants that are shredding it
Farm Practices
The majority of our cows feed is grown on our farm. We practice crop rotation, so the same crop is not planted in the same field every year. We began cover cropping, which is planting a crop in a field in the fall after harvest. The crop that is planted provides protection for the ground surface until spring, its roots provide organic matter for the soil.
This naturally builds the fertility of the soil, helping it to retain moisture. We've increased the practice of no till, which is planting the new crop directly into the soil, reducing the need to cultivate the fields as frequently.