Monday, June 10, 2019

F is for Fresh

Say hi to Greg. He's the guy on the right. He drives the milk truck that takes the milk from our farm to the processing plant. Today he brought his grandson along. I think his grandson may be a milk hauler in training. :)

Every other day Greg comes to Bremer Farms to pick up our milk and deliver it to Zumbrota, Minnesota or Land 'O Lakes in Woodbury, Minnesota. There it will be processed to be sold as milk or cottage cheese or sour cream or cheese or lots of other dairy foods.


Greg has to back his truck between two barns to get the milk. He's a great driver so we have complete faith he can squeeze in the tight spot. I think milk trucks must have been smaller when our barns were built so close together. :)


Everything gets documented- the name of the farm, how much milk is picked up, and the number on the sample bottle.


Each farm that Greg (and all milk haulers) go to gets a milk sample taken from their bulk tank. When arriving at the milk processing plant, a sample from the truck will then be run through a series of tests before it is allowed to unload. This is done to ensure that the entire load is perfect! If not (which happens less than .02% of the time) the samples from each farm are tested to see which farm is responsible. You can read about the penalty here.


After the sample is taken, Greg prepares all the equipment he needs to safely handle the milk. This is the hose that he will attach to our cooling tank.


It gets attached to the bottom of our bulk tank, and about as quick as you can say "I love milk!"  1,000 gallons of milk is safely loaded in the milk truck.


We are thrilled with the safe way that Greg handles and transports the milk. The milk that left our farm today, will be in your grocery store in less than 48 hours, and milk is local too. Most milk is produced within 100 miles of where it is sold! Local, safe, and fresh, that's a win-win-win!


FYI- Milk labeled as "antibiotic free" is misleading  All milk sold is antibiotic free!


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