Dairy Delight

Posted on by

Last week we had a chance to visit the Cornell Dairy teaching barn to tour the facility that houses Cornell Dairy’s main operations. We were given a delightful tour by an animal science graduate student who walked us through the general day-to-day workings of a functioning dairy facility. Many aspects of the dairy industry are viewed by some as nefarious due to welfare/ethical concerns and are thus stigmatized (something that was brought up by the tour guide). The Cornell facility, however, seeks to counter some of this negative light through education on what a properly run dairy barn should look like. The cows all seemed very relaxed–some even quite curious–and all of them were at all times happily chewing their specialized tailored food-blend that is optimized for both health and milk production. My favorite portion of the visit–and I’m sure it was a sentiment shared by many–was the tour of the calf pens. The calves were incredibly adorable and far more sociable than their mature counterparts, and they seemed delighted to have visitors. Overall, the trip was very unique and insightful. As someone who consumes products from Cornell Dairy daily, it was certainly valuable to be able to see where this dairy comes from and to learn more about the science behind milk production here at Cornell.

3 thoughts on “Dairy Delight”

  1. A someone who wanted to attend this event but was unable to, I’m glad to hear that it seemed like the dairy barn was very humane. I think it’s a growing problem in today’s increasingly competitive market to cut expenses to make profits however possible—and often that ends up being at the expense of the animals, because they are unable to raise their voices and complain like we are. There is nothing more upsetting than seeing calves/cows trapped in a space that is barely bigger than they are for there whole lives, and I’m glad Cornell is setting a positive example on that front.

  2. I am disappointed that I missed the calves! Did they mention what they do with the excess make calves? Are these just female calves being raised for milk production?

    • I believe they said the male calves are sent to the mid-west for meat. The female cows are also sent for slaughter after a few years once they are past their prime for milk and calf production.