Day 6: Simple dairy facts for urban folk like me

Maple and me at Sweet Rowen Farmstead.
She is probably around 2 months old
 and likes sucking on fingers.

Our time in the Northeast Kingdom has definitely opened my eyes to parts of dairy and agriculture that I've never learned about or even heard about. While I'm certainly not an expert at this point, I do have a basic understanding of how dairy production works, and there are several dairy/agriculture buzzwords whose meaning I now understand. For all you city folk out there who would have also asked, "What's the difference between dairy and beef cows?" here is a list of "simple" terms/concepts I've learned over the last two days.

Jersey cows at Laggis Brothers Farm.

• Bovines are a species that includes cattle, while Jersey, Holstein, etc. are specific dairy cow breeds (think canine vs. beagle).
• The keys to a great dairy operation are cleanliness, consistency (in feeding, milking, and cleaning), proper food, and proper ventilation.
• There are 8.6 pounds of milk in a gallon. 
• Cows need to be milked at least twice a day.
• Managing a dairy farm for commodity milk (Laggis) is very different from one for artisan cheeses (Sweet Rowen and Jasper Hill). I think commodity farms are usually bigger and don't do as many direct sales.
• There are many different types of systems at dairy farms for manure management, ventilation, feeding, and milking.
• The Jersey cows we saw at Laggis Brothers Farm (female dairy cows) give birth for the first time at around 13 months, and then ideally are pregnant again within 90 days.
• "Pre-fresh" or "springer" means a cow that will give birth within 2 weeks, and needs to be given a different diets and stay in a separate barn (at Laggis).
• Bigger dairy farms typically produce commodity milk, which gets picked up from distributors or co-ops and dropped off at a processor to be made into liquid, bottled milk. This bottled milk usually has a new label and can be sold outside of VT.
• The goal is to have cows on a high forage (grass) diet - our theme for today was "Profit from Pasture" but could have also been "Funds from Forage," according to Louise. I'm pretty sure forage is fresh grasses, while silage is fermented, dried grass or corn residue, but the nuances of differences in definition are still unclear to me. I now know that VT cows at Laggis, Jasper Hill, and Sweet Rowen Farmstead eat silage and forage (and soy, grain, corn, hay?) - make of that what you will.
• Farmers grow corn because it yields 4 times more energy than grass, but they feed their cows both grass and corn (among other grains?) because there's public concern about corn, and almost all corn in VT is GMO.
• Cows' milk straight out of their udder is 102 degrees!
• Sand bedding is super comfortable for cows - "the gold standard of cow bedding" - especially if you keep it clean. There's less opportunity for bacteria growth and it's cost-effective.
• A healthy cow has a really strong, straight back and a tight udder that's parallel to the ground.

Prime example of a great udder,
according to Louise.

Me standing in front of a
large pile of corn silage,
confused by what I was seeing.

My apologies if this information isn't totally correct, but I'd say I'm generally more knowledgeable than I was two days ago!