I’m really glad I went on the tour through the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn this weekend. This was one of those activities that I otherwise would have never done during my four years at Cornell. The milk we have in our dining halls comes from the very cows we visited. The veterinarian student who led the tour was extremely knowledgable about cows, the milking process, and necessary medical procedures.
Only about 2% of America’s population live in farms. I grew up in the suburbs and the farms nearby were more of the fruit-picking variety or horse farms. I also visited a small farm in Ireland but the grass-fed, hand-milked cows there were much different than the ones we saw here. The Cornell Dairy Barn had very efficient processes to milk their 148 cows as well as other aspects of the cow’s well-being like food, rest, and even an instrument for self-scratching! More than anything, this experience really made me realise the amount of work and research that is conducted to optimise milk production while maintaining humane treatment. Plus, we got to pet the calfs and take a lot of great pictures!
I have a similar experience in that my experience with farms has only been through cherry picking and I’ve not truly experienced the hard work of farmers who provide our basic necessities which we can take for granted many times. I find it interesting how such a small portion of our population lives on farms, yet the supply for its resources is so large. Given the large amounts of supply and demand needs for milk, I too believe that we must appreciate the work farmers do and the pressures they face in giving us the quality milk, and other foods that we consume daily.