Dairy Recycling

While shuffling papers and doing computer work this afternoon in the office, I kept hearing a constant whirring sound.  When I looked out the front window, I could see the tractor and hay mower in the field next to the house moving quickly across the field cutting hay. It was the perfect time and a good excuse  for leaving  the paperwork)  to  walk across the yard, smell the freshly mowed hay and capture the beauty of the aftenoon. While watching the hay being mowed, it brought to mind this complete picture of dairy recycling--cows eat the grass, cows produce manure,manure is applied on the land, grass is harvested to feed the cows.

Manure from our cows is a nutrient for the soil, builds up the soil and increases the water holding capacity which benefits crop or pasture growth. Since 1985, our farm has been permitted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality allowing us to store dry and liquid manure nutrient and use it to fertilize the soil on our farm. Manure is applied to each field in a prescribed amount that is guided by our farm plan that was designed by environmental engineers and technicians.

Dairy recycling is an ongoing manure management method on our farm that protects water quality for us and our  neighbors and contributes to the sustainability of our family farm!

Rest on the Dairy Farm

Who's resting on the dairy farm during spring time? It's not the dairy  farmer! Although  spring time harvesting and planting increase our workload and stress us to the max,   our pregnant  cows are resting and relaxing  in the last two months of their  pregnancy regardless of our  increased springtime  workload.

A cow will be pregnant for nine months   before giving birth.Two months before giving birth, a cow will be "turned dry" and moved from the milking herd to a pasture to rest and eat a special pregnancy diet to prepare for a healthy birth. Two weeks before the estimated birth, we bring our cows to the pasture next to our house so we can monitor them closely and provide assistance when necessary.

Last week when I was walking across the yard to feed baby calves, I noticed this expectant mama next to the fence. She looked pretty guilty--like she might have been nibbling on those iris! Even though watching our pregnant cows during this rest phase is part of our job, I find it to be a fun and entertaining part of our daily routine.

Rest during the dry period for dairy cows is important for the cow's health and to insure production of high-quality milk.  Providing high-quality milk begins with taking good care of our cows!

Dairy Diving

Our local Chick-fil-A provided a special cookie treat for each participant of this morning's National Day of Prayer breakfast.  I didn't notice the seal on the package until I pulled it from my purse late this afternoon for a tasty snack. I'm still smiling about the label and thought I would share one of my family's favorite cookie recipes in case you want to let your cookie  take a dive in a cold glass of milk!

Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cups softened butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda,salt, and spices, and mix well. Combine mixtures, and mix well. Stir in oats. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes in a 375 degree F. oven for a chewy cookie and 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet, and then remove to a wire rack. Makes 4 1/2 dozen.

                                                                   Take the Dairy Dive!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

It must be a sign of maturity (nice word for old age) when the best part of any trip is coming home. I'm thankful for  a safe trip and  to be back  home on the farm with my family of humans and cows!

Dairy Supports Healthy Community Strategies

Volunteering to talk about dairy farming is always an adventure and after finding my way to Lake Degray in south Arkansas, I did enjoy all that I learned at the Growing Healthy Communities Conference. "Growing Healthy Communities" is described as a movement in Arkansas that involves bringing elected officials,health workers,educators, business leaders and citizens together to turn our communities into vibrant,liveable,healthy environments. Growing Healthy Communities is geared to reversing the public health crisis associated with childhood and adult obesity that is rampant in Arkansas. (http://www.arkansasobesity.org)

Before I gave my presentation, I learned about a variety of ways communities in Arkansas are meeting the public health challenges such as:

• Increasing access to healthful foods by developing community gardens or opening farmers markets
• Increasing the opportunity for physical activity by increasing sidewalks,trails and influencing physical education in schools and preschools
• Enhancing policies that foster health
• Improving worksite wellness
• Organizing for change

So, how does a dairy farmer support a healthy community? In my opinion, dairy farmers support healthy communities by:

• producing a nutrient-dense,economical food.
• providing funding for research and development of products to meet consumers' needs.
• providing funding  for and implementation of Fuel Up to Play 60 to involve children in making healthy food choices and being physically active for life long healthy habits.

You can find information about Fuel Up to Play 60 at http://www.midwestdairy.com or http://www.fueluptoplay60.com

Dairy's Natural Combination

Like cookies and milk, dairy farming and family are just a natural combination. While we  were celebrating Cody's twenty-fourth birthday today, bringing out the picture album seemed a natural response to questions about the early days of number one son. It's obvious from looking at these pictures that our dairy farm family milestones are intermingled with dairy farming.

The year Cody was born, 1988,  was also the year our current milking facility was built  and included the addition of a stainless steel milk tank that stores 28,000 pounds of milk. Stainless steel refrigerated milk tanks are needed to store the milk and keep the milk cool until it is transported to the milk processing plant. Refrigerated milk tanks are an important part of the system that make milk the safest foods available.


Just as our family is growing and changing, we are also looking at innovative practices to make our farm more sustainable. Cooling the milk more efficiently is one of those practices under consideration. The milk tank will still be needed for storing the milk, but new and more innovative equipment will help to conserve energy and reduce the operational cost in cooling the milk.

Bringing new innovative technology into our dairy farming operation is a natural combination with our dairy farm family's mission statement to produce the highest quality, lowest cost milk possible in an environmentally responsible manner.

 

April's Dairy Farm Celebrations

 
April is full of celebrations for our family farm--

                                                               new calves,

finishing spring harvest,

family birthdays!