Dairy Farming Benefits

Although working with family doesn't always create a stress free work environment, I feel really fortunate to work  with my family everyday on the dairy farm. 

It's a rewarding experience and what I consider as one of my dairy farming benefits  to see my sons share in the daily responsibilities of caring for our dairy cows and the land we call home.

 

One of our daily farm chores  done every  morning and afternoon is the calf feeding. Yesterday afternoon  I beat Cody to  the tractor driving job, so he fed the calf on the bottle while

 

 

Casey fed the calves that drink milk from the bucket.

 

 
 

 

 

  This tractor driver, besides being a great calf feeding tractor driver,  provides benefits to the hard working dairy farmer sons  

 

                                       
                                             with labors of love from  dairymom's kitchen!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

     National Ag Day celebrates the fact that American agriculture is doing more and doing it better.

 I love this picture of my mother-in-law, Bonnah Lyn.  It's a reminder to me of how hard she worked, the sacrifices she made for her family and family farm, and how technology has changed the efficiency of food production.
    I'm thankful for  our agricultural heritage and for the third generation farmer she raised just for me!

Dairy Sweet Cake

When trying to decide what kind of cake to bake for my Mother's birthday last week, I found  this recipe tucked in my stack of  recipes that I had pulled from a December 2012 edition of Southern Living. It's a stately three layer cake, perfect for a celebration of any kind and has the perfect dairy ingredients--milk and butter!

Even though we never met Mrs. Billett, we certainly thank her for providing this sweet dairy-filled cake  recipe!


Mrs. Billett's White Cake

1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter,softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
5 egg whites
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 (8 inch) round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper, and grease and flour paper.
Stir together milk and vanilla.
Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar beating until light and fluffy. Sift together flour and baking powder; add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks; discard parchment paper. Cool completely (about 40 minutes).
Spread Vanilla Buttercream Frosting between layers (about 1 cup per layer) and on top and sides of cake.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter,softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (32oz) package powdered sugar
6-7 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Beat butter and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with 6 Tablespoons milk, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Stir in vanilla. If desired, beat in remaining 1 Tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency.

 

                            You can't go wrong with this cake, especially if it's topped with ice cream
                                                           or served with a glass of milk!

Dairy Spring Break

Triple A Farms, also known as Anglin Dairy, was the first  stop on the spring break tour for University of Arkansas animal science students  in search of  knowledge about different types of dairy production and the day to day activities on a dairy farm.

 

Only one or two of the students had ever been on a dairy farm so I'm pretty sure we provided the start of a unique spring break--much more entertaining than a  sunny, sandy beach!

 

 

The cows were curious about visitors in the feed barn but they kept on eating!

The students saw first hand that dairy farmers care for their cows by providing a nutritious diet.

 

                                                                                   
Although the baby calves are the last stop on the tour, it's always the favorite for any visitors!
These calves are the future of our dairy farm and it's easy to understand that we make it a priority to get them off to a healthy start with individual care and attention.

 

                     A fun dairy spring break tour  always ends with plenty of cheese, milk, ice cream
                                                                                  and
                                               a lot of smiles from both farmers and students!

                                                                               

Dedicated to Dairy

 

Ryan and I just returned from the annual meeting of our dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America in Kansas City,Missouri. The theme, Dedicated to Dairy, was a perfect description of the people attending the meeting.  Dairy farmers are committed to producing safe, high-quality milk that is consumed on family tables around the world. Our dairy cooperative is just as dedicated to making sure that from the moment milk leaves our farm, it is processed and delivered to consumers with the focus on safety and the needs of the families who will consume our dairy products. 

 

 

 In a hallway going to the meeting room was  a great display of all the different brands of milk and dairy products produced by our farmer members. I loved this display of all the different brands of milk sold across the country because it represents the fact that  no matter  where you live or buy your milk--you and I  can purchase safe, high-quality milk for just pennies on the dollar because of the dedication of every member in the dairy industry.

 

                   Milk is always a  nutritional bargain because it supplies nine essential nutrients

                             including calcium, vitamin D, protein, vitamin A, and potassium.

 

 

 

 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

No matter how many birthdays we celebrate, each one is special.

We'll be celebrating my Mother Mary's birthday this weekend with a family party.

 

                                                                     
                                               I'm thankful for my 83 year young Mother,
                                                        a true flower in the garden of life,
                                                    who brings joy to all who know her!

Dairy Farmer's Field of Dreams

 

Dairy farmers often have a different perspective. You may just see a field of cows but I see the dairy farmer's field of dreams...

 

                                                                                
                   it's a field full of pregnant heifers that will soon produce  a new spring  calf crop,
                                            the  potential milking cows for our family  dairy farm.
                                                              A dairy farmer's dream!