"Blue Q.Red Chek" Quality

While running errands this morning, I spotted the Hiland Dairy truck making a delivery to a local coffee shop. Seeing the truck reminded me of a question that I was recently asked while giving a tour of our dairy farm--Where do we sell our milk? As members of Dairy Farmers of America Cooperative, our milk is marketed and sold by the cooperative. Our milk actually goes to the Hiland Dairy plant in Fayetteville for bottling. If you buy Hiland Dairy milk, you may be drinking milk from our farm or another family dairy farm in our area.

Hiland Dairy actually started in 1938 in Springfield,Missouri, by two men and a fifty cow dairy herd. The Hiland business was sold to Prairie Farms Dairy,Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America,Incorporated, in 1979. Currently, Hiland has eight manufacturing plants located in Missouri,Nebraska,Oklahoma,Kansas and Arkansas. Hiland's wide variety of dairy products are endorsed with the Quality Chekd trademark (the "Blue Q.Red Chek") that assures consumers are getting the best in fresh,wholesome and delicious dairy foods.

You can find more information about Hiland Dairy, great recipes, and coupons at http://www.hilanddairy.com/. It takes quality milk for quality dairy products--from our farm to your table!

Bull's Eye View of Egyptian Geese

Last week as we were feeding baby calves, one of our employees asked me if I had seen the baby ducks on our pond that is located just down the road from the dairy. This is also the pasture that is home to several Holstein bulls. It's not unusual to see ducks on the ponds, but the description given for these sounded very unique. After we finished calf feeding, I picked up my camera and headed for the pond. To my sheer delight, I found what I now know are a pair of Egyptian geese with their eight goslings enjoying what appeared to be swimming instruction time.

After observing the family for a short time, I returned home to send a picture to my birding friend to find out more about these interesting birds. I'm not sure why they have chosen Northwest Arkansas as their home, but I did find out that a pair of them have been around our farm for the last ten years. This is the first time we have seen any Egyptian goslings.

Here are a few interesting facts about Egyptian Geese:

-originally from Africa

-considered sacred by ancient Egyptians, appearing in much of their artwork

-they pair for life

-the male and female are identical in plumage,the male is usually slightly larger

-they eat seeds,leaves,grass,plant stems; occasionally may eat locusts,worms or small animals

-they are very territorial in protecting their babies

I suppose it was a blessing that the pasture around the pond is full of bulls right now. There was no worry of me being attacked by the geese because I stayed on the outside of the fence with a bull's eye view!

Arkansas Milk Stabilization

As an Arkansas dairy farmer, I can truly say that June Dairy Month is a great time to celebrate not only dairy foods and the dairy industry, but also give recognition to the support that Arkansas dairy farm families have received from our state. Due to the rapid decline in the number of dairies in our state, the Arkansas legislature established the Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board in 2007 to work to ensure a minimum supply of milk for the population of our state. We truly received help to save our dairy farms in 2009 when the Arkansas legislature funded a two-year program to provide incentives to state dairy farmers with a goal to stabilize or increase milk production within the state. I can never express enough thanks for the support all Arkansas dairy farm families have received from Governor Beebe,the state legislators,and the members of the Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board.

Here are some current facts about dairy farming in Arkansas:

-there are approximately 130 dairy farms

-the average Arkansas dairy cow will produce 5 gallons of milk per day

-Arkansas dairy farms produce 17.9 million gallons of milk annually

-dairy is the 9th largest agricultural business in Arkansas,generating $20 million/year

-98% of all Arkansas farms are owned by families

I hope that we will always have dairy farms in Arkansas producing our state beverage--Milk!

You can learn more about Arkansas dairy history or dairy nutrition at http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/ or http://www.midwestdairy.com/.

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