Farm Tour Conversations

If calves could talk, what would they say when approached by twenty five college students?
Petting the baby calves seems to be the highlight of the dairy farm tour for all ages.  Last week when University of Arkansas students came for a tour, it was fun to watch the reaction of the kids and the calves.  It always seems to be such a surprise when the calf gives them a big slobbery lick on their hands!

Although every dairy farm will have their own system of caring for baby calves, consistent care and good nutrition are necessary for raising healthy calves. After the calves are born, they are separated from their mothers to ensure the best individual care and monitoring. On our farm, we raise baby calves in individual hutches for eight to ten weeks.   Each calf is fed milk and grain twice daily and monitored through the day.  By weaning time, each calf will be drinking water and eating  four pounds of grain per day.

Dairy farm tours are great opportunities for conversations about how we work everyday to produce high quality milk by providing good nutrition,medical care and healthy living conditions for our calves and cows. The calves and I are already looking forward to our next farm tour conversations!