Galavanting
Today in ruminant nutrition we went to the Van Beek dairy in Monroe and Union Point Custom Feeds in Brownsville.
The dairy was typical, from my limited knowledge (I've been to 1-2 commercial dairies in my life), except that the cow milking stanchions were on a continuously rotating platform. Apparently it makes the milking process faster (cit. this webpage about the Van Beek dairy).
I'm learning to like the smell of silage. Canola meal is another issue -- I thought it was poultry manure from the smell (and look). Believe it or not, cows are fed poultry manure as a feed supplement. It is a good and inexpensive source of energy, protein, and minerals*. Talk about stewardship of resources -- it's a great idea -- I'm just glad I'm not a cow.
The feed mill was neat -- the establishment has the capability to make steamed pellets, rolled or cracked grain, la. Very educational and the couple reminded me of my maternal grandparents. The husband definitely the techie, into his machines, more of the "farm" idea. The wife a little more of a talker, probably taught school in her younger years, more refined.
A neat trip over all.
The dairy was typical, from my limited knowledge (I've been to 1-2 commercial dairies in my life), except that the cow milking stanchions were on a continuously rotating platform. Apparently it makes the milking process faster (cit. this webpage about the Van Beek dairy).
I'm learning to like the smell of silage. Canola meal is another issue -- I thought it was poultry manure from the smell (and look). Believe it or not, cows are fed poultry manure as a feed supplement. It is a good and inexpensive source of energy, protein, and minerals*. Talk about stewardship of resources -- it's a great idea -- I'm just glad I'm not a cow.
The feed mill was neat -- the establishment has the capability to make steamed pellets, rolled or cracked grain, la. Very educational and the couple reminded me of my maternal grandparents. The husband definitely the techie, into his machines, more of the "farm" idea. The wife a little more of a talker, probably taught school in her younger years, more refined.
A neat trip over all.
posted by Claire at 15:49
6 Comments:
Typical except for the milking parlor. :) (Thanks for adding the stats to further impress my paltry sum of readers.) I guess the rest of the dairy was impressive, too -- automatic flush system for the cow pens, nicely bedded calving stalls, well-managed corn silage and feeding system -- but it didn't stand out like the rotary milking system.
Bother, the comment I was responding to mysteriously disappeared and the browser is not allowing me to delete the one I just posted.
I see how it is - deleting my comments. Psht ;)
I thought you deleted your own... very mysterious indeed...
This is getting stranger, because I posted something after Claire's second post, and now it isn't there, either. My comment only said that I had also seen Anna's post before Claire responded to it. Puzzling.
I might surmise that CS is getting back at me for hijacking her blog on her birthday... but I don't think she knows my password.
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