08/13/08

What is ISCOWP?

ISCOWP (The International Society for Cow Protection) was incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., March 1990, as a non-profit charitable organization. William and Irene Dove (Balabhadra das and Chayadevi dasi) are its managing directors. They are disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON). Through their spiritual master's teachings, they have imbibed the practices and benefits, both spiritual and material, of lifetime cow protection.

ISCOWP Mission Statement

ISCOWP's primary concern is to present alternatives to agricultural practices that support and depend upon the meat industry and industrialized, petroleum powered machinery. To this end, ISCOWP trains oxen (male cows or steers) to replace farm machinery and thereby show an alternative to their slaughter. The tenets of cow protection and ox-power are universal and nonsectarian, available to all regardless of race, creed, or nationality.

ISCOWP Actvities

Cow Protection Classes/Seminars

Classes/Seminars are given in living classroom settings involving hands-on instruction. Traditional classroom educational settings are also available. Please contact us if you wish to partake in such a seminar or wish to have one in your area.

Training Teamsters and Oxen

Teamsters and oxen are trained either individually or in group settings. At the ISCOWP  Farm there are trained ox teams available for the training of students.

Educational Materials

17 years in publication, the ISCOWP News http://www.iscowp.org/Newsletters.htm informs its readers of cow protection activities. Our web page, www.iscowp.org , offers a wide scope of information about cow protection. Various videos and literature are also available.

ISCOWP Farm

ISCOWP's headquarters, consisting of 165 acres in West Virginia USA, provides a setting for seminars, hands-on instruction, ISCOWP's office, ox-power and life centered on the land and cows. Guests are welcome for scheduled events and appointments. A cabin is available for temporary residence of volunteers, trainees and members.

Adopt A Cow Program

Twenty-six cows and oxen are protected at ISCOWP’s farm. An Adopt A Cow program is available to provide an opportunity for people to support a cow and develop a relationship with their cow and cow protection. You may adopt a cow online  at:

www.iscowp.org/AAC/Adopt%20A%20Cow%20Today.htm

Vegetarian Food Preservation

Vegetarian food preservation and preparation from the ISCOWP garden provides food for the farm residents during the summer and winter months and premiums for its members. The first Harvest Workshop was held in September 2004 which demonstrated and taught these skills.

In 1981, our family (myself, Chayadevi, son Baladeva and daughter Lakshmi) moved to the farm community called Gita Nagari in the state of Pennsylvania in America.

In the late 70's to the late 80's Gita Nagari was a thriving farm; 25 acres of grain (wheat and oats), 75 acres of corn for the cows and 50 acres of hay fields. There was a large garden planted each year, usually about 4 acres of vegetables and 3 acres of potatoes. From the Brown Swiss cows there was so much milk, that literally we didn't know how to use it all until one devotee started to make hard cheese. At the peak of that period there were 27 cows milking. We made all of our own butter, yogurt, curd, and had enough milk for the 125 devotees to drink and then some to sell.

We heated all of the buildings with wood from the forest that was gathered with the oxen. We used one chain saw to cut the wood in the forest into sled lengths and then it was brought down to a spot called the "CLEARING" which was about 3/4's of a mile from the temple. We had fabricated a machine from old truck parts and gears that the old timers called a "GEAR HEAD" or a "SWEEP UNIT". From the "GEAR HEAD" extended 5 poles, which 5 oxen were hooked up to and they walked around in a circle. They did 2RPM'S (revolutions per minute) around the "GEAR HEAD" which turned all the gears which turned the drive shaft at 700 RPM'S which ran away from the "GEAR HEAD" about 40 feet to several more pulleys and then to the 3 foot saw blade which actually cut the wood into stove sized pieces. At the saw blade we were running about 2000 RPM's.

This particular "GEAR HEAD" was being used by an Amish farm and they were running 10 horses as the power as they were slabbing lumber (cutting lumber planks) and needed the extra power. When slabbing lumber the saw blade must maintain the high RPM'S. If not then the lumber will be wavy and the blade will warp and will then need to be taken off the saw and pounded back into a straight profile. Anyway, we were just doing firewood so this was not a problem for us and we ran only 5 oxen. After the firewood was cut it was loaded into wagons and the oxen delivered the firewood to the locations, of which there was between 12 and 16, which needed wood.

The 2 main ox men who I worked with were named Vaisnava das, and Isvari das. They were both expert. There was also one woman by the name of Sita who was 1st class in working the oxen, better than most of the men. She was small and never spoke loudly or exhibited anger towards the oxen. She was a good example to show that its not a matter of forcing the oxen to work but instead training them to work based on a loving exchange between the animals and humans. We did as much of the farming as we could with the oxen but also used tractors when needed as we were severely undermanned. We had 14 trained oxen who were all very good at the farm work.

In the mid 80's the farm started a program called "ADOPT-A-COW" which was to raise funds to help support the cows. By that time we had a herd of 157 cows and it was way to many cows for the land that we had to work with. We were the 1st ISKCON farm in North America to stop breeding along the commercial dairy way of doing things. It was realized that if you are not killing your unproductive cows and male offspring as a commercial dairy does, then you lose your economic profit. So it was necessary to raise funds to pay for the feed that we could not grow on the farm. My wife and I ran the "ADOPT-A-COW" program from 1988 to 1990. During this time we also were in charge of the agriculture department on the farm.

It was during the celebration of Govardhan Puja and Go Puja in 1989 that a devotee by the name of Adwaita Chandra paid us a visit and had an idea that he wanted to discuss with us. At that time each of the North American ISKCON farms each had a cow protection program. There was "ADOPT-A-COW", "SAVE A COW" and "MOTHER COW", each dealing with a specific herd of cows. Adwaita Chandra's idea was to develop a cow protection program that was universal in application, global not regional. We talked for many hours over that weekend and came up with the name of "INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR COW PROTECTION' as well as a basic list of goals that have since evolved into the present day goals of ISCOWP. We parted company after the festival and he said "Think it over and if you want to go ahead with ISCOWP, go ahead". He is an idea man, consultant type of person, not a cow man or farmer. We decided to organize ISCOWP as a non-profit charitable incorporation. We legalized everything in March 1990.

The spring of 1990 we started traveling to all the North American Rathayatra festivals, the Earth Day Festival, and other programs. We took a team of oxen and led the Ratha Yatras during the parades. At the festival site we would have the oxen available for people to pet, touch, and photograph. The festival visitors were completely in awe of the beauty and size of the oxen. We also had a booth where we sold t-shirts, distributed literature, and had many pictures of the farm and what the oxen did at the farm. "THE OX IS THE BACKBONE OF THE FAMILY FARM, NOT THE SOUP BONE" was one of the slogans that we used to show the usefulness of the oxen in our lifestyle. We did this for approximately 4 summers in which we received positive press coverage throughout the USA. In the meantime we acquired some small acreage (3 acres) in North Carolina to establish a small family farm.

Beginning in 1990 my wife, Chayadevi, began writing and publishing the ISCOWP quarterly newsletter. This newsletter is still printed today. She also started a children's newsletter and materials but could not find many persons to subscribe, so it was discontinued. Chayadevi does most of the correspondence, fund raising, accounting, photography, curriculum development, designing of original ISCOWP T-shirts and display paraphernalia. In 1993 she began the COM cow conference that had approximately 90 members from about 20 different countries. The cow conference  formulated cow protection standards that are now ISKCON Law 507 so that mistakes aren't made and repeated in cow care facilities. Since the beginning of 2005, we are no longer active with the cow conference and plan on developing a new conference in the future.

In 1991 we acquired a 3 acre property in North Carolina where we grew wheat, rye, and vegetables with the help of the oxen only, no machines. Eventually we found this acreage to be too small for our family, 2 oxen, and the crops we wanted to grow. A friend of ours had bought a large parcel about 2 hours away in which there was approximately 20 acres in bottom land. An oral contract was made that we could cultivate that property to expand our program. There was no electricity, no water system, and the land had not been worked for years. I lived there in our school bus that we used to travel coast to coast with the oxen and began to cultivate the land with our ox team, Vraja and Gita. We developed a hand water system drawing water from the nearby stream. The living situation was austere. Oil lamps for electricity, hand pumping all water, and living in the school bus that had no facilities but shelter. Here we grew large vegetable gardens, dry land rice, wheat, and rye. No machines were used for farming or living on this property.

For approximately 3 years we cultivated this land until we received an invitation in the beginning of 1995 to live at New Vrndavana and join Varsana Maharaja's disciples work towards self-sufficiency. It was proposed I would teach the younger devotees the skills I knew so they could get established on the land. We were enthused to make the big move so that we could gain energy and association on the path to establishing cow protection as Srila Prabhupada desired.

We sold our 3 acres, our trailer home, and made numerous trucking trips long distance to move all the ox equipment and household to New Vrndavana. During the first year we trained approximately 10 teamsters and 20 oxen from the New Vrndavana herd. Due to financial difficulties of the New Vrndavana administration our project could no longer receive strong support from New Vrndavana. At this point we had the opportunity to purchase land from New Vrndavana as they were selling land to minimize their financial pressures and to attain funds for expenses. In 1996, we acquired a 57 acre parcel which was the heart of an old family farm. The devotees had worked it about 15 years ago. Some of the buildings were still standing but most were not in good repair. Numerous springs, a stream, pastures, and forest were some of the features that attracted us to purchase the property. We chose to name this property "Vrajapura" Farm. Vrajapura as quoted in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 5, Text 6, means the residence of Nanda Maharaja who was the King of the cowherds during Lord Krsna's pastimes on Earth.

In 1998, I was appointed the ISKCON Minister for Cow Protection and Agriculture to advise and instruct ISKCON centers and devotees protecting cows. To this end, ISCOWP and the members of the cow conference created the Minimum Standards for Cow Protection which is ISKCON Law 507. I travel to various ISKCON centers worldwide for the purpose of establishing these standards and distributing cow protection knowledge. It is my pleasure to also acquire knowledge through these travels.

In the last 6 years we have been working to establish ourselves on Vrajapura Farm. We have built two modified earth shelter homes and one cabin for trainees, refurbished the old standing barn, built a new barn adjoining the old barn, built a hay barn and a geriatric barn, installed new fencing (ongoing process) and installed a new water system, reclaimed the pastures from rose bush weeds (ongoing project also) and removed truckloads of garbage. We are presently in the process of building shelter for the ox power equipment. Twenty-five cows and oxen reside here protected and loved in a beautiful environment. Since 1996 we have acquired two adjoining parcels and another parcel that will make the land holding 165 acres. Now we have more facility for the cows and oxen.

We have been growing much of our food and preserving it by canning and drying. This next summer we have plans to grow some grains and more variety of vegetables and herbs. There is a big deer and groundhog population here that tries to eat much of the garden. A very important resident, Rudra the dog, guards the garden and is quite successful in scaring off the wild animals. Often they become so profuse that we will be moving some of the crops near to the house. Much of this produce we send to our donors. If you would like to know how to receive these gifts please refer to:

Http://iscowp.org/Project/Project%203.htm

The goal of Vrajapura Farm is to provide a center for the training of teamsters and oxen and for the distribution of knowledge in cow protection and the self-sufficient arts.  We presently train persons on a one to one basis in return for labor on the farm. Certifications of Achievement in various areas of knowledge are offered. We welcome anyone interested in acquiring this knowledge and training to contact us. Tours are available by request. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Written By :

William E. Dove (Balabhadra dasa)