One-cow Revolution by Beth Dougherty

One-cow Revolution

Achieving Food Independence With a Grass-fed Family Cow

Beth Dougherty, Shawn Dougherty

Rizzoli · Print & ebook · November 18, 2025

Essential experience-based advice and instructions from the authors of The Independent Farmstead for raising a grass-fed milk cow as the heart of a successful low-input, low-cost homestead.

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Who it’s for
Practical guidance follows a grass-fed dairy cow from arrival through daily care and farmstead uses.
Themes
Homestead dairy-cow care, Food independence, Sustainable small-scale farming
Genres
Animal Husbandry, Sustainable Living, Sustainable Agriculture

About this book

Essential experience-based advice and instructions from the authors of The Independent Farmstead for raising a grass-fed milk cow as the heart of a successful low-input, low-cost homestead. For more than three decades, Shawn and Beth Dougherty have honed their frugal methods for managing a small-scale farmstead on marginal land.

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In One-Cow Revolution, they share their wisdom and affection for the blessing that is the human-dairy cow partnership, addressing key questions with clear answers for those who have just moved back to the land (or are still planning and dreaming). The Doughertys begin at the beginning, advising readers on how to find a reliable dairy cow, move her to the homestead, and settle her in. They take readers on the round of daily chores, including managing their cow’s grazing patterns and monitoring pasture health, milking a cow, and handling the milk. They explain how a solar-powered cow becomes the heart of a diversified farmstead, providing food for calves, pigs, and other livestock; milk and meat for the family; and manure for high-quality compost to build healthy garden soil. The book’s exemplary how-to content is framed by an introduction and conclusion that describes their life philosophy as “cow people” and the many benefits that manifest in communities where small, food-independent farmsteads thrive as models of sustainable human land-use. "This is the homestead dairy cow book every homesteader needs!”—Amy Fewell, founder, Homesteaders of America

The Homestead Dairy Cow

Practical guidance follows a grass-fed dairy cow from arrival through daily care and farmstead uses.

Come here for

  • Finding, moving, and settling in a dairy cow
  • Milking, milk handling, and managing grazing patterns

Expect

  • Advice on pasture health and daily chores
  • How milk, meat, and manure support a diversified farmstead

Where it sits

Animal Husbandry82%
Sustainable Agriculture48%
Sustainable Living45%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Sustainable Living
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Sustainable Agriculture
Authors
Beth Dougherty, Shawn Dougherty
Publisher
Rizzoli
Published
November 18, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Homestead dairy-cow care · Food independence · Sustainable small-scale farming
Reading lane
Sustainable Living