Benefits of Testing Milk

Last night we attended the annual Dairy Herd Improvement Association's {DHIA} annual dinner and award presentation.  DHIA tests the milk from our entire milking herd on a monthly basis.

This is not a mandatory test, this is a management tool that some dairies choose to use. The testing tells us how many pounds of milk each cow produces, the percentage of butter fat and the percentage of protein in the milk and also provides information on somatic cell counts on each cow.

{This is not to be confused with the mandatory testing that occurs with each and every truck load of milk on a daily basis that tests for antibiotics}.

You can view how the milk is tested and read more about the benefits and why we test our milk on a previously written post, Milk Testing, Why We Do It, if you'd like.

Sixty-four dairy farms in the North Bay area of California participate in this milk testing program.  Within our North Bay area, out of the 64 herds, awards are given to the 'Top Ten Herds Milking'.

And you can't have an award ceremony without some good food.  Appetizers were delicious!  Bryce was all over the fruit platter.

And when he finished with the fruit, he went for the garnish - kale- surrounding the fruit.

And then he went back for seconds and thirds of kale.....no kidding.

Jimmy's Catering provided the food for the event and it was so good.

And after dinner, a little juke box dance party happened.

A late night for the kids, being a school night and all.  I guess once in a while it doesn't hurt.

I love to hear from you! To leave a comment, click on the “Post a Comment” link below. Have a peaceful day.


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Is The Milk You Buy Local To Your Area?

Are your dairy products local?


Now you can check to see if your dairy products are made in the state you live in with this website I came across. Where Is My Milk From?
Many times when you look at the different brands of milk in the grocery store, they appear to be different qualities of milk. Now you can enter the code on the package through Where Is My Milk From and you will see that many of the different brands come from the same plant.

For instance, our milk is picked up once a day by our Cooperative, DFA (Dairy Farmers Of America). DFA then markets the milk to a number of different processors such as, Sunnyside, Berekly Farms & LePrino Cheese. DFA also owns a cheese plant in Hughson, CA. Each processor packages the milk into their own label......many different labels, same milk.

The website is so easy to use! I checked my fridge and this is what I came up with~
Bryce's Lucerne Lactose Free milk is from a plant in Gustine, CA......


Here's the number on it - 06-446 (the first two numbers in the code is the state code, for instance in this number '06' is California.....



This Costco Kirkland milk is from a plant in Fresno, CA.....



Here's the number on it - 06-4199



This yogurt is from Fullerton, CA



Here's the number on it - 06-19

Oooh, I see that the expiration date has come and gone....bummer.



Milk is the most tested food product in the United States

This is how it happens with DFA~



Human hands never touch the milk from the time it leaves the cow until it reaches consumers. On the farm, each bulk tank of milk is tested for quality, antibiotics and bacteria levels. At the processing plant, each truckload of milk is quality checked before the milk is unloaded into storage units specially designed to maintain milk in a sterile environment at proper temperatures.



In addition to those precautions, DFA’s manufacturing operations quality check finished products (like cheese) to ensure that customers and, ultimately, consumers are receiving the freshest tasting dairy products possible.

All milk delivered to the marketplace must meet DFA’s quality standards.

Happy Wednesday!

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