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that was creating supply and demand imbalances that were driving milk prices through the floor, Rose realized that the Virginia farm wasn't going to support them all, so he moved away to look elsewhere for his own dairy farming opportunity. "My best option to be able to stay afloat was to leave the family dairy and work for someone else," he said. His job at Rogue Creamery offers him the chance to gain experience in organic dairy management, and its robotic milkers provide the opportunity for a work-life balance that hadn't been possible at the other dairies where he's been working to support himself, acquire a small herd of registered Brown Swiss cows and save for a future farm of his own. Work-life balance is particularly important to him right now as he's newly married and planning a honeymoon trip longer than most dairy farmers would be able to leave the farm. "It's the first time I've been able to have a weekend off," he said. "The facilities are brand-new, and that's unusual in a terrible milk market." If you were to go out into the pasture with him, you could point to almost any cow among the 215 in the Rogue Creamery herd, and Rose would tell you the animal's name – Marshmallow or Satisfaction, Natasha or Ninja – and reel off several generations' worth of her genealogy. Part of what he likes about this particular herd is that it includes cows with genealogy bred into them by Jodi Coppini of Tillamook, Oregon, who is locally famous for her Brown Swiss champions with their broad hindquarters and a particular set of their tail that Rose admires. He recognized that look as soon as he stepped onto the farm and went straight to the computer to look up the herd records to verify their genetics, he said. "I can't remember my own family's birthdays – my mom has to remind me, but I can remember these animals' lineages," he said. "I love cows so much. I thrive in that kind of environment." "That passion is what I saw in him, so I knew he was right for the Rogue Creamery team," Gremmels said. "With Zach's leadership here, we can take the dairy to the next level." Rogue Creamery's cows are mostly Brown Swiss and Holstein, since they're the breeds that do the best job of making milk with the protein and butterfat content that's best for Rogue Creamery's cheeses. They have ready access to their pasture for most of the year but move indoors to the barn for January, February and March, which is the Rogue Valley's rainy season. "If it's a sunny day, they'll go out," Rose said, "It gets them off the concrete and gives them a chance to stretch." They're milked by two robotic milkers, Charlie and Matilda – the cow just wanders up to the robot, where she munches a little milking ration snack while laser-guided equipment sanitizes her udders and attaches milking cups. "It's a free-choice lifestyle," Rose said. "You come whenever you want to." In the next year, Gremmels is planning to add a third robot to accommodate a herd that will be growing to allow expanded production for Rogue Creamery cheeses. The robot performs some tests on the milk and alerts Rose through his cell phone if it detects any problems that might indicate that the cow needs attention to its health. Each cow is milked for nine months of the year and dry for three months – at most farms, the cows only get 45 to 60 days of rest before they're started on their next milking cycle, Rose said. They're an average of eight years old, and the oldest milker is 15. Most commercial dairy cows have working lives of only around three years before they're worn out and slaughtered. "It's all about the environment and how you treat them," Rose said. "If you treat them right, they'll be productive their whole life." David Gremmels David Gremmels Natasha and baby Heirloom David Gremmels David Gremmels