kid's agmag - dairy

3
A g M a g DAIRY Dairy cows are amazing animals. They can turn grass and grains into milk! Heifers are female dairy cattle and after two years, they give birth to their own calves. Once a heifer gives birth, it is called a cow. All female dairy cows must have a calf to produce milk. The gestation (pregnancy) period for cows is nine months. Newborn calves weigh about 80-100 pounds. Male dairy cattle are called bulls and do not produce milk. An agricultural newsletter for kids from Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Dairy cows eat hay, silage and grain. Silage is fermented corn, wheat or hay with the stalks and leaves. Cows eat 50 pounds of silage as well as 40 pounds of feed and hay each day, for a total of 90 pounds of food. Dairy cows also drink 25-50 gallons of water each day. f ull o f w a t er e v ery o t h er da y! How Hungry & Thirsty is a dairy cow? The Amazing Dairy Cow Dairy cows come in many colors. The black and white cows are called Holsteins. You’ll find mostly Holsteins here in the United States. Some other breeds include Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, and Ayrshire. They can be tan, brownish gray, golden brown, reddish-brown or shades of these colors with patches. Some breeds produce a lot of milk and some breeds produce milk with a lot of butterfat. Farmers consider this when choosing a breed of dairy cows. Farmers improve their herd through genetics and select cows that produce more milk or have a higher butterfat content in their milk. What’s black and white and Red all over? 90 lbs. of food = about 200 baked potatoes ® A c o w d r in ks t h e e q u iv ale n t t o a b a t h t u b If one cow eats 90 pounds of feed each day, how many pounds of feed would a herd of 100 cows eat in a day?____ ____________________ If a cow drinks 40 gallons of water a day, how many cups of water does she drink? (16 cups = 1 gallon) ____________________

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Children's publication featuring Mississippi's Dairy Industry

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Page 1: Kid's AgMag - Dairy

Faces

of Mississippi’sDairy Industry

Donald LoweryDairy Producer, Marion CountyWhat types of tasks do you perform on your dairy?I milk cows twice a day/seven days a week; feedand water cows; clean the milking barn andequipment; keep the equipment in working order;put up hay in the summer; and winter-graze cows

during the winter months, depending on what theweather dictates. You can use knowledge that you

learn in school – I took ag courses for two years in college– but you really need to be raised on a farm to fully understand all thatneeds to be done.

Why did you become a dairy farmer?I grew up on a farm, and my grandfather also farmed. I enjoy it. I have a degree in finance, but I like the outdoors and being my own boss. Plus, a farm is a good place to live and a great place to raise your children. I lived in the city for a while and didn’t like it.

What types of skills do you need to be a dairy farmer?A dairy farmer wears many hats, from electrician to plumber toveterinarian. You must have good management skills. You must be ableto operate milking equipment and care for cows, without having to hire toomuch extra help. However, you will need seasonal help sometimes.

How do you market your milk? I market through a cooperative called Dairy Farmers of America. But in the Southeast, dairy farmers are at a disadvantage. We only produce 50 percent of what consumers need, so we must truck in the rest from out West, and we must pay for transportation costs for that.

Stan WelchDirector of Milk ProgramMississippi Department of HealthWhat do you do? I inspect dairy barns and milk plants. Mississippi has107 dairy farms and two dairy processing plants. I sample both raw and pasteurized milk.

What did you study in school? It helps to have a dairy background, but I took a lot of science courses in school. You must have a science-based major in college, whether it is in production ag or dairy production.

What types of skills do you need for your job? You need good computer skills and good communication skills. You mustbe tactful in certain situations so diplomacy is a good skill to have. Sometimes you are dealing with dairy farmers in an adverse situation.

Dairy cattle are called ruminants because theyhave multiple compartments in their stomach.Ruminant animals first chew their food to soften it,swallow it, and then return it to their mouth forcontinued chewing. This is called chewing the cud.After chewing the cud, it is swallowed a secondtime, broken down further, and digested. Cows willspend up to eight hours a day chewing their cud.Cows have a four-compartment stomach. The fourdigestive compartments of a cow’s stomach arethe rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum.

Shaun SosebeeManager of Industry Relations,Southeast United Dairy Industry Association (SUDIA)

What do you do? I help educate consumers about dairy farming

and dairy products, and I promote dairy productsto benefit farmers. I travel across four states: South Carolina,Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

What is your education? I have a bachelor’s degree in ag leadership.

What types of skills do you need for your job? I do a lot of communicating, so verbal and written communicationskills are important. You must also be able to interact with andlisten to consumers and dairy farmers. I do event planning, soyou must have those types of skills as well, including budgeting.You must be organized, and you must have computer skills. Youmust keep up with technology.Do you enjoy your job? I do. Working for farmers is fantastic. I previously worked withthe Young Farmers & Ranchers and Women’s programs atFlorida Farm Bureau Federation, and I taught high school ag forthree years. I grew up in 4-H and FFA, and I’ve always had apassion for agriculture. Farmers work day and night to provideour country with the bulk of its food. I feel that educatingconsumers to the good of the dairy industry is very important. Itis important that we support our industry.

Do A DOUBLE TAKE

RETICULUM

OMASUMRUMENABOMASUM

THANK A DAIRYFARMER TODAY

Each year, U.S. dairy farmers provide milk to make more than:

1 billion pounds of butter

1 billion gallons of ice cream

7 billion pounds of cheese

This issue of AgMag is compliments of:

1 billion pounds would equal

about 227 fueled space shuttles!

That’s a whole lot of DELICIOUSNESS!

AgMagDAIRYDairy cows are amazing animals. They can turn grass and grains into milk!Heifers are female dairy cattle and after two years, they give birth to theirown calves. Once a heifer gives birth, it is called a cow. All female dairycows must have a calf to produce milk. The gestation (pregnancy) period

for cows is nine months. Newborn calves weigh about 80-100 pounds. Maledairy cattle are called bulls and do not produce milk.

A n a g r i c u l t u r a l n e w s l e t t e r f o r k i d s f r o mM i s s i s s i p p i F a r m B u r e a u F e d e r a t i o n

Dairy cows eat hay, silage and grain. Silage is fermented corn, wheat or hay with the stalks and leaves. Cows eat 50pounds of silage as well as 40 pounds of feed and hay each day, for a total of 90 pounds of food. Dairy cows also drink25-50 gallons of water each day.

full of water every other day!

How Hungry & Thirsty is a dairy cow?

The Amazing Dairy Cow

Dairy cows come in many colors. The black and white cows arecalled Holsteins. You’ll find mostly Holsteins here in the United States.Some other breeds include Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, andAyrshire. They can be tan, brownish gray, golden brown, reddish-brown or shadesof these colors with patches. Some breeds produce a lot of milk and some breedsproduce milk with a lot of butterfat. Farmers consider this when choosing a breedof dairy cows. Farmers improve their herd through genetics and select cows thatproduce more milk or have a higher butterfat content in their milk.

What’s black and white

and Red all over?

90 lbs. of food = about 200 baked potatoes

®

A cow drinks the equivalent to a bathtub

If one cow eats 90 pounds of feed each day,how many pounds of feed would a herd of 100cows eat in a day?________________________If a cow drinks 40 gallons of water a day,how many cups of water does she drink?(16 cups = 1 gallon)____________________

Page 2: Kid's AgMag - Dairy

WITHOUT DAIRY FARMERS, THERE WOULD

BENO

PIZZA!

MOZZAR

ELLA

CHEESE

Mozzarella is the mostcommonly used cheesein restaurants.

at the StoreRefrigerated delivery truckspick up the packagedmilk from the dairyplant and deliver it togrocery stores acrossthe country. The milkyou purchase is fresh.In most cases, onlytwo days have passedfrom milking the cow tostocking the shelves at

the grocery store. Longago, milk was stored in jars,

pails, cans and eventually,glass bottles. Paper cartons arrivedin 1906 and plastic jugs followed.Today, we are lucky enough tofind milk available almosteverywhere, thanks to refriger-ated tanks and trucks.

Many other dairy productscan be found in the grocerystore, too.

These include: ice cream, cheese, butter, yo-

gurt, cream cheese, sour cream,cottage cheese and buttermilk.

In your bodyMilk provides your body with calcium,which is needed for healthy bonesand teeth. Calcium also helps ourmuscles and nerves work properly, andhelps blood to clot. Milk products alsoprovide us with carbohydrates, proteinand Vitamin D. You should have 3servings of nonfat or low fat milk andmilk products each day. One serving ofdairy is equal to 1 cup of milk, yogurt orice cream and 1-2 ounces of cheese.

Milk is never touchedby human hands. All milk is tested beforeleaving the dairy farm,at the dairy plant, andagain before it goes inyour school or home.

whole milk (not low fat)shallow pan

food coloring kitdishwashing soap

This is a really simple art activity with a gorgeous, colorful result and movement.

With your parents help, pour some milk into the pan (about 2 inches full).Squirt in a little bit of each color of food coloring into the middle. Add onedrop of dish soap and watch the colors dance! Keep adding a few moredrops in areas where colors are congregating. The fat particles are movingaway from the soap taking color with them.

Enjoy this beautiful and colorful milk dance.

Did you know?Low fat flavored milk like chocolate and strawberryhas all the vitamins and minerals as white milk.

At the FarmOn today’s dairy farms, cows aremilked 2 or 3 times a day withspecial milking machines.Farmers use automatedequipment to milk the cowsand take extra steps to keepthe milk clean and safe. Theudder is cleaned beforerubber-lined cups are attachedto the teats. Then a pump sucks

the milk through the cups and into apipe. This pipe takes the milk from the

machine to a refrigeration tank that stores themilk at 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Before modern milking machines, a farmer could milk about six cows byhand in one hour. Now, farmers can milk over 100 cows in an hour!

At the plantThis is where the milk is tested,standardized, homogenized, pasteurizedand packaged.

• Milk is tested for butterfat content,flavor, odor and bacteria. Then it ispumped into a refrigerated storage tank.

• The milkis moved from the

storage tank to a clarifier,where it is standardized. Here,

milk from several different dairyfarms is mixed so it all tastes

the same and has the same amountof cream.

• Milk fat is broken into tiny particlesthat are evenly spread throughout themilk. This is called homogenization.Without being homogenized, the creamwould rise to the top of the milk and itwould need to be stirred or shakenbefore drinking.

• Milk is pasteurized to kill bacteria andprotect its purity and flavor. This is doneby quickly heating, then cooling themilk. Pasteurization got its name fromDr. Louis Pasteur, who first discoveredthat heat kills germs.

• Automated machines package themilk. The machines fill, seal and stampthe expiration date on each milk cartonor jug. The milk is refrigerated until it isready to be shipped out of the plant.

On the roadSpecial trucks haul the milkfrom the farm to the dairyplant. The trucks keep themilk cold—like a giantthermos on wheels. Thetruck drivers take samples ofthe milk to make sure itmeets certain standardsbefore they deliver it.

Milk comes out of the cow at 100˚ Fahrenheit and is quickly cooled to 38˚- 40˚F. to ensure quality and freshness.

From the farm to your Grocery storeIn 2 days or less!

Make your own butterTry this activity to make your own butter!1. Place a half-pint of room temperature whipping cream or heavy cream in a plastic or glass jar with a lid. One half-pint of cream will make about one-quarter pound of butter.

2. Shake the jar for five to ten minutes.3. When a lump of butter forms, pour the contents of the jar into a colander to separate the butter from the buttermilk.

4. Eat the butter on bread or crackers. A pinch of salt can be added.

FOR MAGIC MILK, YOU WILL NEED:

Page 3: Kid's AgMag - Dairy

Faces

of Mississippi’sDairy Industry

Donald LoweryDairy Producer, Marion CountyWhat types of tasks do you perform on your dairy?I milk cows twice a day/seven days a week; feedand water cows; clean the milking barn andequipment; keep the equipment in working order;put up hay in the summer; and winter-graze cows

during the winter months, depending on what theweather dictates. You can use knowledge that you

learn in school – I took ag courses for two years in college– but you really need to be raised on a farm to fully understand all thatneeds to be done.

Why did you become a dairy farmer?I grew up on a farm, and my grandfather also farmed. I enjoy it. I have a degree in finance, but I like the outdoors and being my own boss. Plus, a farm is a good place to live and a great place to raise your children. I lived in the city for a while and didn’t like it.

What types of skills do you need to be a dairy farmer?A dairy farmer wears many hats, from electrician to plumber toveterinarian. You must have good management skills. You must be ableto operate milking equipment and care for cows, without having to hire toomuch extra help. However, you will need seasonal help sometimes.

How do you market your milk? I market through a cooperative called Dairy Farmers of America. But in the Southeast, dairy farmers are at a disadvantage. We only produce 50 percent of what consumers need, so we must truck in the rest from out West, and we must pay for transportation costs for that.

Stan WelchDirector of Milk ProgramMississippi Department of HealthWhat do you do? I inspect dairy barns and milk plants. Mississippi has107 dairy farms and two dairy processing plants. I sample both raw and pasteurized milk.

What did you study in school? It helps to have a dairy background, but I took a lot of science courses in school. You must have a science-based major in college, whether it is in production ag or dairy production.

What types of skills do you need for your job? You need good computer skills and good communication skills. You mustbe tactful in certain situations so diplomacy is a good skill to have. Sometimes you are dealing with dairy farmers in an adverse situation.

Dairy cattle are called ruminants because theyhave multiple compartments in their stomach.Ruminant animals first chew their food to soften it,swallow it, and then return it to their mouth forcontinued chewing. This is called chewing the cud.After chewing the cud, it is swallowed a secondtime, broken down further, and digested. Cows willspend up to eight hours a day chewing their cud.Cows have a four-compartment stomach. The fourdigestive compartments of a cow’s stomach arethe rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum.

Shaun SosebeeManager of Industry Relations,Southeast United Dairy Industry Association (SUDIA)

What do you do? I help educate consumers about dairy farming

and dairy products, and I promote dairy productsto benefit farmers. I travel across four states: South Carolina,Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

What is your education? I have a bachelor’s degree in ag leadership.

What types of skills do you need for your job? I do a lot of communicating, so verbal and written communicationskills are important. You must also be able to interact with andlisten to consumers and dairy farmers. I do event planning, soyou must have those types of skills as well, including budgeting.You must be organized, and you must have computer skills. Youmust keep up with technology.Do you enjoy your job? I do. Working for farmers is fantastic. I previously worked withthe Young Farmers & Ranchers and Women’s programs atFlorida Farm Bureau Federation, and I taught high school ag forthree years. I grew up in 4-H and FFA, and I’ve always had apassion for agriculture. Farmers work day and night to provideour country with the bulk of its food. I feel that educatingconsumers to the good of the dairy industry is very important. Itis important that we support our industry.

Do A DOUBLE TAKE

RETICULUM

OMASUMRUMENABOMASUM

THANK A DAIRYFARMER TODAY

Each year, U.S. dairy farmers provide milk to make more than:

1 billion pounds of butter

1 billion gallons of ice cream

7 billion pounds of cheese

This issue of AgMag is compliments of:

1 billion pounds would equal

about 227 fueled space shuttles!

That’s a whole lot of DELICIOUSNESS!

AgMagDAIRYDairy cows are amazing animals. They can turn grass and grains into milk!Heifers are female dairy cattle and after two years, they give birth to theirown calves. Once a heifer gives birth, it is called a cow. All female dairycows must have a calf to produce milk. The gestation (pregnancy) period

for cows is nine months. Newborn calves weigh about 80-100 pounds. Maledairy cattle are called bulls and do not produce milk.

A n a g r i c u l t u r a l n e w s l e t t e r f o r k i d s f r o mM i s s i s s i p p i F a r m B u r e a u F e d e r a t i o n

Dairy cows eat hay, silage and grain. Silage is fermented corn, wheat or hay with the stalks and leaves. Cows eat 50pounds of silage as well as 40 pounds of feed and hay each day, for a total of 90 pounds of food. Dairy cows also drink25-50 gallons of water each day.

full of water every other day!

How Hungry & Thirsty is a dairy cow?

The Amazing Dairy Cow

Dairy cows come in many colors. The black and white cows arecalled Holsteins. You’ll find mostly Holsteins here in the United States.Some other breeds include Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, andAyrshire. They can be tan, brownish gray, golden brown, reddish-brown or shadesof these colors with patches. Some breeds produce a lot of milk and some breedsproduce milk with a lot of butterfat. Farmers consider this when choosing a breedof dairy cows. Farmers improve their herd through genetics and select cows thatproduce more milk or have a higher butterfat content in their milk.

What’s black and white

and Red all over?

90 lbs. of food = about 200 baked potatoes

®

A cow drinks the equivalent to a bathtub

If one cow eats 90 pounds of feed each day,how many pounds of feed would a herd of 100cows eat in a day?________________________If a cow drinks 40 gallons of water a day,how many cups of water does she drink?(16 cups = 1 gallon)____________________