There's Always A Project On The Farm

Try as hard as possible, and there's still always something that needs doing. There is always a project waiting to be accomplished, a task to be completed, a correction or update that needs to be tweaked. 

I am a list maker, but I often find when I cross something off the list when it is finished, I replace it with two more things. Does anyone else do that?

One of our most recent items ticked off the list was reorganizing the workroom in our calf barn. This is the room where we store the supplies for our daily calf chores. We previously had wooden shelves which were difficult to keep clean, and also tough to keep dry. They were replaced by these new shelves. The storage boxes keep items clean and organized.

The red and black buckets are washed, and used to feed milk to the young calves. We have enough pails so that they are rotated to allow each calf to have a fresh, clean pail, while these are drying. Since this photo was taken, the trim was added around the window, which overlooks the calf area.

Another project to check off the list was some updating to the milking barn. The ceiling in our milking area was originally made of wood. Keeping it dry and painted was quite a task. It is now covered with glass board, an easy to maintain ceiling material.

Glass board ready to be cut.

Our carpenters had to be sure-footed as they balanced above the "pit" to reach the ceiling. The pit is the area we stand when we are milking so we are lower than the cows, and at the right level to attach the milking machines.

"Walking the Plank"

If you look closely at the next picture you can see the new ceiling on the left, and the old on the right. When the ceiling was complete, we added new energy efficient lighting too. Just another stop on the sustainability path we take.

Our dairy barn is inspected at least twice a year to be sure we are producing a clean, safe product for you and your family. This easy to maintain ceiling is just another way we accomplish that.