Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Last week members of  our Benton County  Farm Bureau 

Women's Leadership Committee spent the morning at 

Mathias Elementary with 4th and 5th grade students to provide 

information about Arkansas agriculture.

It's always fun to milk Frannie the Arkansas Farm Bureau cow.

Frannie is  the perfect cow  for school visits because  she doesn't

kick or swish her tail in your face when milking!

I'm thankful for the opportunity to share how 

milk is produced on our Arkansas dairy farm

and

to live on the farm and care for the animals that

 provide high-quality nutritious milk.

June Dairy Adventures

June Dairy Month is filled with all kinds of activities but if you want to be

 rewarded with smiles from children, just take Frannie

 the Arkansas Farm Bureau milking cow for a visit.

I spent a morning this week, sharing a dairy adventure with kids 

attending the Mary May Jones Adventure Club in Bentonville.

Of course, the first question is,"Do we get to milk the cow?"

                                                         
                                                        Other than eating ice cream,
                                    I can't think of a better way to celebrate June Dairy Month
                                  than sharing all about where milk and dairy products come from!
                                           
                                   
                               

Chick Whispering

It was all in a day of fun learning about Arkansas agriculture that Russell Jones Elementary fourth and fifth grade  students turned into chick whisperers! 

 

 

As the students held the chicks, we provided information about how  farmers care for the chicks  to provide food for our families.  It's pretty amazing that even though we don't have any formal education for chick whispering, the students are experts!

 

 

 

 

One observation about chick whisperers--they always smile when holding a baby chick!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

I was privileged to attend the American Farm Bureau Convention in San Antonio this week. It's always fun to work in the Arkansas booth at the trade show to share about Arkansas agriculture.

 

 

I'm thankful to be an Arkansas dairy farmer

 

and

 

 for the variety of  opportunities  I have to educate consumers of all ages about Arkansas agriculture!

 

May's Farm Fun

For the last seven or eight years, the Benton County Farm Bureau Women's Committee has sponsored an elementary school  program in May  titled "Farm Expo". With the help of  volunteers from Arkansas Farm Bureau and the Arkansas Beef Council, we're able to provide hands-on fun with  information about Arkansas agriculture and how farmers provide safe food while protecting the environment.

 

Friday morning we shared Farm Expo with Bonnie Grimes Elementary third graders.

 

Students learned about...

cotton,

 

food safety,

 

poultry,

water,

 

chicks,

 

soil,

rice,

 

dairy,

                                                                                and beef.

                                         I'm sure the students had as much fun as the volunteers!

Dairymom's Show and Tell

 

Do you remember Show and Tell at school? I'm still enjoying Show and Tell! 

As a volunteer for Benton County Farm Bureau Women's Committee, I have enjoyed alot of Show and Tell opportunities to share how farmers  work on the farm everyday  to provide safe, affordable food.  Going to the classroom is always exciting for me--how could you not love all those sweet faces and happy to see you smiles!

 

 

First grade students at Old Wire Elementary gave me their undivided attention today as I shared how we work everyday on the dairy  farm to produce the nutritious milk or dairy product that they enjoy at school or home. Today's Show and Tell included sharing a few props, describing how we produce milk and reading a book about dairy.   As I pulled out my props--a calf bottle, a grain bucket and small sack of grain--I almost felt like a magician getting ready for the next trick!

 After packing up  my props and heading for the farm, I couldn't help smiling and thinking to myself--I hope I never get too old for Show and Tell!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                   I'm not sure who has the most fun  learning about dairy--me,the students or their teacher! 
Agriculture in the Classroom activities teach children where their food comes from in a factual fun  way.  I'm thankful for teachers who have a heart for children, share enthusiasm for learning  and value teaching students about agriculture.

Cow Milking Experience

Last week I was talking with second grade students about dairy cows and how dairy farmers work to produce milk. My assistant in the picture is ,Frieda, the Arkansas Farm Bureau milking cow. Just as I was talking to them about how we have a nutritionist to help us formulate our cow's diet, the school food service director and her staff came to observe our lesson in milking the cow. It was a great opportunity to talk about why healthy food choices are important to kids and cows! How do you milk a cow?

I explained that on our dairy farm:

• First the cow's udder and teats are washed, then a milking machine is attached




• Milking machines apply vacuum which gently removes milk from the cow's udder
  
  



• It takes about five minutes to milk one cow. With milking machines, farmers can milk about 100 cows per hour
  
  



• Cows are milked two times a day

Everybody gets a milking experience!

You can find more information about dairy farming at http://www.dairyfarmingtoday.org/ or dairy nutritional information at http://www.midwestdairy.com/.

Double Fun Milking

What can be more fun than watching 500 kids milk Sophia, the Midwest Dairy cow? My answer would be to take a dairy farmer to talk with the kids milking Sophia! I wasn't counting on having a case of allergy related laryngitis when I volunteered for this event, so asking husband/dairy farmer Ryan to assist was a true necessity. Students at the school were learning about Arkansas history and Sophia had an important role in educating students about MILK-the Arkansas state drink!
We arrived at the Apple Glen Elementary in Bentonville at 8:30 to set up and be ready for our students by 9 a.m. As the students arrived, we had sheer organized chaos. Ryan talked with the children briefly about what cows like to eat, how much they drink and then proceeded to assist those that needed help or instruction on how to milk the cow. My job was to give the I Milked a Cow sticker to each child. With each group of children, our dairy talking and milking procedure began to flow with ease.
We had some great conversations with these children and their teachers about how we produce milk on our farm. Sophia was the hit of the day! As we loaded Sophia on the truck and headed for the farm, the dairy farmer decided that a day of milking real cows was a lot less tiring. Can you still see that I'm smiling about my double fun day with the dairy farmer? You can find more information about Arkansas dairy farming and the nutritious product we produce at http://www.midwestdairy.com/.