Journey Down the Milky Way

Growing up milk was for kids.   At my house, not much has changed.  I still give my little ones milk for strong bones, but there is a lingering worry about the safety of what I am serving. Think about it, milk is drawn not far from where the poop falls. The latest farm tour shed light on the Milky Way.

View from the bus as we pulled into the farm.

The farm portion started with a delicious lunch followed by a visit to the farm’s youngest animals, the baby calves. We learned their feeding transitions from bottle to bucket and ultimately to the trough. The main event was seeing how the cows were milked.

Granted I know cows are no longer milked by hand, but still worried about the milks’ sanitation. The farmer explained he rings a bell and the cows make their way to the milking parlor. Unlike my kids, the cows patiently wait their turn. He showed us how their utters are cleaned, air dried and then the milking machine is attached. The vacuum suction is extremely gentle and automatically shuts off when finished. The milk is pumped directly into a glass container that empties into a large vat. The milk truck takes the raw milk from the vat, along with milk from other farms to the processing facility.

If you look closely, you can see the cream.

The cows are milked twice a day, some farms milk three times a day. It simply depends on the individual farm. Farmers do this every day because there are no bank holidays or summer vacations. The cows get milked no matter what.

During the demonstration, we were standing in a smaller room called the milking parlor.  15 people squeezed into a small room was bad enough, add six 1500 lbs pound animals to the mix and thing can get interesting.  When I was not paying attention, a cow standing close started to move.  Needless to say, my deodorant failed.  Enough said.

Ladies of the Farm.

In the end, my fear of the milk coming in contact with feces was no worry.

Sharon, The Mayor of Crazyville.

The above opinions are mine, but I was compensated by the Illinois Farm Families for my expenses.