Leisure Time for the Dairy Cows

On sunny days, our dairy cows enjoy grazing and lounging out in the pasture in between milking times. Here are a few photos I took yesterday of some of our dairy cows relaxing in one of the pastures.

These photos are taken from the pasture on the hill behind the birthing/calf barn.

We have 200 milking cows at this time and this is just a portion of one 'string' (there are three strings total.)

The cows are SO curious.  At one point, I had 30 of them running towards me to check me out.  Okay, I admit it.... it kind of freaked me out!  What a big chicken I am!  But there was just something about 30, 2000 pound animals running towards me that just didn't feel quite right.  I asked Dominic about it and he told me if I would have let them come all the way up to me, they probably would have just licked me, but I didn't give them the chance.......maybe next time.

Dairy is one of the most regulated and inspected industries in agriculture. As part of the regulation process, dairy farms are regularly inspected by county health inspectors to ensure clean water and to minimize environmental impacts in years to come.  These inspections can be unannounced, so farmers must always be ready to show an inspector around their farm and be willing to make the environmental improvements suggested by the inspector. State and Federal inspections also occur annually.

Farmers are excellent Stewards of the land.  We know that protecting the land we farm on, not only preserves it for future generations, it also maintains a healthy lifestyle for our families, communities and animals.

Environmental practices on all dairy farms are tightly regulated by both federal and state agencies. While requirements vary from state to state, we, as dairy farmers and all dairy farmers I know strive to consistently meet these standards. In fact, we go above and beyond what is asked of us. We see the benefits every day when we step into their barnyards and reflect on the legacy we'll leave to our children. 
 
Dominic is a 4th generation Dairyman, and as many Dairymen or women,  feels a strong sense of responsibility to preserve our farm and community for future generations.
 
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