By the end of our week-long visit in Minnesota we had made it to Thief River Falls for the grand finale (and point of the whole trip) : the wedding! First, we had to tour the dairy farm that Jesse's mom grew up on. Her dad used to run a dairy farm of about 30 cows. Today her brothers are in charge of 300+ cows! Although a bit smelly, the whole process was pretty fascinating and it was fun to get the "behind the scenes" look into all that it involves.
(The barn to the left is where the cows are milked, then they enter the barn on the right after milking.)
The calves have their own "barn" that they stay in until they are old enough to go into the field. Here, they are bottle-fed mother cow's milk or supplements and are very well taken care of. I did not expect to see such a clean barn of cows! And they were pretty cute too.
So, how do you milk a cow, you might ask?
First, you dress like this:
Total fashion statements, right?
[Most of the milking photos below were taken by Jesse's brother, Matthew, who is much better with a camera than me. Thanks Matt!]
Then you enter the milking pit:
The cows enter from the door you see straight ahead in the picture above. Six cows line up on each side of the pit. Once in place, each heifer's tits are sanitized, wiped clean, and squeezed to make sure there is nothing wrong with them (blockage, lump, etc.). Then they are ready for milking.
So you take the milking contraption (you see I learned all the terminology, right?!) and attach it to each tit. Once you have turned it on it begins to suck and should slip right onto the tits. However, if you are concerned about getting kicked or pooped on during this process you might have some difficulties (like myself).
Success!
The suctions sense when each tit is finished delivering milk and will fall off on its own. Once all four have finished, the whole contraption is pulled up by a string so that it doesn't touch the floor.
The cows are milked twice a day, and each cow produces about 16 gallons of milk per day!
I couldn't leave without milking the "old fashion" way. :)
The milk travels through pipes and into this huge tank, which is picked up once a day. After milking, the heifers enter a holding room which is covered with sand (instead of straw). Sand is more comfortable for the heifers, causing them to lay down to rest. It is only when they are lying down that they are producing milk. (Who knew?!) They are also monitored in this room to see if they are (guess what?...) chewing their cud! Ideally, 85% of them should be chewing their cud; if not, something is off in their diet and their feed will need to be manipulated. Their cows are fed from the soybeans, hay, grains, and corn that are grown on the farm (with a few other things, like beets, brought in from other suppliers). All of the manure is collected into what they call the "lagoon," and is pumped into the fields to enrich the soil. Isn't that so cool how everything on the farm is used in such a cycle?
(Funny story: Before going to the farm, Uncle Roger was telling us we could go take a look around, but "just don't fall into the lagoon." He laughed. I laughed. It wasn't until we arrived on the farm that I realized the lagoon was a pit of manure. Good thing I didn't fall in!)
And now you know how it's done! Seeing this process firsthand really makes me appreciate my dairy products more. And we LOVE some dairy around here. We buy two gallons of milk at a time, and recently while unloading our groceries onto the checkout counter I asked Jesse if there was a type of cheese that didn't make it into the buggy. It's taken a lot of work to keep their farm going through the years while many others had to shut their doors. While it was a fun experience for us to do and see, their workers clean and milk udders for 12 hours a day! I don't think I could do it, but I sure am thankful that they do!
This post has gotten really long, but I can't end without sharing a few pictures from the wedding. It started with a beautiful church ceremony, then moved to the town hall for the reception where there was lots of dancing (that I somehow managed to escaped...!).
(And for all you kinfolks... if you thought Luverne was small, you haven't seen Plummer, MN.)
We had such a great time visiting family I certainly hope another 6 years doesn't go by before we make another trip!
