Meet The Owners: Benedikt Dairy

Benedikt Dairy has a strong connection to traditional farming that it wants to share with the local community.

Max and Melissa Blindow started their organic dairy farm a year ago up in the Lakes Region before moving to Bedford in December. The farm now has four dairy cows and produces up to 20 gallons a day.

You can find the Blindows at the Amherst and Bedford Farmers’ Markets selling their grass fed beef and pastured eggs each week.

Amherst Patch asked Max Blindow some questions about his farming business.

Patch: What inspired you to start an organic farm?

Max: I came from a suburban upbringing in Germany. I was the average city child who went to a university and studied math. I was raised conventionally, so I didn’t know where my food came from. There was no relationship with it. There are so many environmental and political issues and one of the world’s biggest challenges is how we produce our food. I wanted to change that and change the methods of food production.

Patch: What are the benefits of organic milk?

Max: Milk is a very complete food product with all kinds of different minerals. Every nutrient we need is represented in this foundational food. For thousands of years, people have had grass fed milk, but now commercial milk is grain fed and produced differently. All of that leads to the highest production per cow, but it has nothing to do with how healthy the milk is. Grass fed cows produce more nutritious milk with a nice balance of fatty acids and includes the most powerful cancer fighting compounds.

Patch: Describe a day in the life of a dairy farmer.

Max: You milk twice a day. I have been doing this for a year working every day, without a day off, twice a day. I have a tremendous amount of responsibility to the animals. There are no weekends, because the animals need you all the time. This means cutting down on desires for vacations, because those are not happening. Yet, it doesn’t matter because if you live life the way you want, you don’t need a vacation from it. It is a lot of work, and the reward is more spiritual than monetary.

Patch: What is your farming philosophy?

Max: The soil has always been there before we came and the cows are designed to graze from it. My cows don’t need to be chained or locked up, and it is amazing to see large animals work together with you like that. There is this wonderful ecosystem working because everything is there. We don’t have to force this into reality, the world is waiting for us to do this.

Patch: How does NH support local dairy farmers?

Max: New Hampshire is a great place to  be, and there seems to be a market here. The legal framework is favorable and it makes it easier to sell raw milk here. The authorities work with you and make the process a lot easier. On the other hand, farm land is very scarce and it is hard to enter into farming if you didn’t inherit a farm. It can be quite a challenge.

Patch: What is the best part for you?

Max: Working with the animals is great and I am always managing the soil life, pasture and animals throughout the season. I can access the highest energy through this system and produce the healthiest product.

Patch: What are the challenges facing the local farming community?

Max: This business can be very high risk in this business an it takes a lot of dedication. Not a lot of people encourage their children to farm, and now there is a lack of farmers as the demand for neighborhood farms grows. There are farmers markets all around, the only thing we are missing is more farmers. But, all big movements start as grassroot efforts and a group of individuals can make changes happen.

Find Benedikt Dairy at the Amherst Farmers' Market on Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. Visit their website and Facebook page.