We all know milk comes from cows. Some of us even think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. All jokes aside, how does the milk get from cows to our table?
“That’s easy!” you say. “You squeeze the udder and milk comes out!” While this is true, the days of dairy farmers pulling up a stool to milk cows one at a time are long behind us. This was a tedious, yet rewarding task, and dairy farmers have new technology that allows them to feed our growing world!
What do dairy farmers have in common with Silicon Valley? They’re highly innovative, and have been bringing sophisticated technology onto the farm long before it was the cool thing to do! Farmers today are using a range of technologies to improve animal welfare, environmental conservation and production efficiency. Here are three ways dairy farmers are going high-tech, farming well ahead of the curve.
Each morning, Dan Kullot rises well before the sun. As he pours a cup of coffee into a travel mug, he takes a moment to think about the day ahead. Kullot, known as Dr. Dan, is the veterinarian at Westside Dairy in Syracuse, Kansas.
When you picture a veterinarian, you may think of someone wearing a white lab coat, with a stethoscope around their neck. However, jeans, a hat and muck boots became the uniform of choice for Dr. Dan when he chose to work in a dairy and milking parlor over a veterinary clinic in town!
The world’s population continues to grow. There’s an increased demand for food. Yet fewer farm-grown individuals are returning to dairy farms to carry on the family tradition.
Fortunately, through new sustainable practices, the latest technology, and programs like the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium (USDETC), many dairy farmers are working to combat the hurdles aspiring farmers face, while encouraging the next generation of sustainable dairy farmers.
Last year, we explored several of the top dairy myths, but there is still more dairy misinformation out there. New research and technology continue to make dairy safer than when people first started eating and drinking it thousands of years ago.
So, here are a few more truths behind common dairy myths.
To celebrate dairy farmers today on October 12 – Farmers Day – we asked some of our Dairy MAX farmers to tell us what they love about farm life.
As students (and teachers) celebrate the beginning of summer vacation, Dairy MAX is honoring the dedicated, hardworking and passionate individuals who encourage those students to eat healthy and stay active: our Fuel Up to Play 60 Program Advisors.
As far back as I can remember, I have loved all things dairy:
“The farmers would count themselves lucky, if they only knew how good they had it,” wrote Virgil, the ancient Roman poet, around 29 B.C. Well, actually it was more like “O fortunatos nimium sua si bona norint, agricolas,” but you get the idea.
Dairy farming goes back thousands of years in human history. While we can’t confirm that Virgil was a dairy farmer, here are five great farming quotes from leaders both modern and historical who owned dairy cows.
Dairy farmers don’t get a day off – not even Christmas. But their celebrations are just as warm and special as any. We asked four dairy farm families to give us a peek into their typical Christmas traditions.
How do we spend Christmas on the farm?
