Showing posts with label milking cows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milking cows. Show all posts

Friday, July 3, 2020

The Farm Book

Betty and Bobby are the farmers in today's story. Along with their dad, they have lots of chores to do each day. 



The morning begins with milking the cows. That's just like what we do each morning (and evening) on Bremer Farms.


Let's listen.


Chocolate Chip Dip


1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces) mini semisweet chocolate chips
Graham crackers or Teddy Grahams

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Serve with grahams. Keep refrigerated. Makes 2 cups.


Monday, July 16, 2018

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 The ceiling in our milking area was originally made of wood.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.





Tuesday, June 23, 2015

U Is For Udder



I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z throughout June Dairy Month.
So come on in...the barn doors are open!
  U Is For Udder

I'm sure you know that milk comes from the udder of a cow, but how does it get there? 

Cows, like all mammals, begin to produce milk when they give birth. Cows typically have their first calf when they are about two years old. About 10 months after calving, the amount of milk the cow gives naturally decreases substantially and the cow undergoes “drying off.” About 12 to 14 months after the birth of her previous calf, a cow will calve again, thus providing milk.

Cows that are milking drink a bathtub of water each day and eat about 100 pounds of feed including hay, silage, grain and proteins. All this food and water to help them produce about 8 gallons of milk each day. That's 128 glasses of milk!


And just like you, we buy pasteurized milk from the store. Now I can fill my udder pitcher. Sara got this for me for Mother's Day. Us dairy moms are suckers for stuff like this  ;)


To learn how our cows are milked visit Farming 101-1 Cow Milking.

 You may also want to read my previous years posts for June Dairy Month...
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