Conversation at Gītā-nagarī Farm – July 15, 1976, Port Royal

Submitted as a hard copy by Murali-vadaka dasa on 1-23-2014

[Hari Sauri Prabhu comments: "Looks genuine. We were in Gita Nagari for the day and Bali, Cyavana, TKG were all there. Buy more land was Prabhupada's usual response to the question of increasing sizes of herds.]

Paramananda: Prabhupada, our cows are multiplying very quickly, so we were wondering, we have figured out that by the end of two years we will have as many cows as we can support off this land. We'll have 100 cows. So we were wondering...

Prabhupada: So get more land.

Tamal Krsna: The land is very costly, Prabhupada. This land cost $350,000.

Prabhupada: No, no, no. We purchase somewhere land and keep the cows there... cattle there grazing.

Bali Mardan: Grazing land... down south... year-round land.

Devakinandana: Would the cows be milked there or would they just be allowed to graze?

Prabhupada: No, whatever you can milk you keep here. Otherwise let them graze there.

Bali Mardan: Like all the bulls that are not being utilized.

Prabhupada: They will eat grass and grow, nature's way.

Paramananda: We were just concerned that there would be so many good milk cows that we wouldn't be able to utilize.

Prabhupada: Why not? You take milk and turn into ghee. You can sell it.

Tamal Krsna: The problem he's suggesting is that after a while there will be so many milk cows that they won't have any room for them here either. In other words, they are multiplying in such a number, what is to be done?

Bali Mardan: One idea that I had was that they should not breed them so quickly.

Prabhupada: Krsna was maintaining 900,000 cows. Do you think you will have more than that? [laughter]

Paramananda: We figure at the end of ten years we'll have 2000.

Prabhupada: That's alright. You have seen the pictures how many thousands of cows He has taken to the pasturing grounds?

Bali Mardan: So simply we have to buy enough land for them to graze on. That is, our duty, to buy the land.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Caivana: Because these cows are such high quality, they could be taken to our other farms. If they have too many here we could take them to our other farms because they are the best cows in the world.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Devakinandana: But all the other farms will have the same problem with too many cows. There is another problem Srila Prabhupada. It is very difficult to find people who are qualified to protect the cows properly.

Prabhupada: Add some land and let them graze there. That's all.

Bali Mardan: Keep the ones that produce the most milk here, for milk.

Prabhupada: Somehow or other, don't kill them. That's all.

Bali Mardan: So also they can simply graze. They don't have to breed them to produce calves. They can simply graze. It's no problem.

Tamal Krsna: If they keep them all together, won't they mate?

Bali Mardan: You have to castrate the bulls.

Hari Sauri: If we protect the cows nicely, then Krsna will supply everything we need for doing that.

Prabhupada: The cow will supply milk and from milk you can produce ghee and you can sell and make profit.

Devotee: Butter is very expensive today.

Prabhupada: So you can make and sell it.

Tamal Krsna: Right now we are selling some of the extra milk. How much are we getting every month?

Devakinandana: $1,500.

Tamal Krsna: Already we are getting $1,500 per month from sale of the milk products.

Prabhupada: That $1,500, $1,000 you keep for purchasing land.

Devotee: You say in your books, Prabhupada, that this cow protection is the greatest thing for....

Prabhupada: Yes, Krsna did it. [end]