I am the daughter that surprised my parents with a date night! I'm helping them answer any questions you have about local dairy farming! AMA! :)

How much income (gross and net) does your dairy farm.generate each year?

Good question!! Umm, every year depends on feed prices, milk prices, and crop production. This year was around $100,000...but $80,000 goes right back into the farm for repairs and overhead costs! So we only get about $20,000 on a good year! (Which really sucks when filling out the FAFSA! Lol :)

Dairy farm girl here. Couldn't get any college aid and my folks were broke. So much gross income so little net. It's a good life though. Hard work but nice way to grow up. My sibs and I try to give my parents days off when we can.

You go girl!!

Son of an independent coal miner here. We make $150 a ton and get about 8 ton a day out (less now. 8 ton was when we had a lot more help). We work 6 days a week. Most of that money goes towards the company (equipment, certifications, you know it all). FAFSA is merciless.

My mom wanted to specifically say thank you to your comment. My sister (her daughter) lives in coal mining country, so we are very thankful for the hard work you do!

Okay... I don't know how your farm is set up, but you should probably set it up as company/LLC. Assuming your total revenue is $100,000, the $80,000 should not be taxed since it's business expenses. The net $20,000 can be given as wages, giving the company $0 net income and putting you somewhere below the poverty line.

Thanks! We'll definitely look into that one!

I read this comment before this one, and I'm really surprised by your profit numbers. Milk goes for three or four dollars a gallon where I'm at, so your numbers for 4,000 to 5,000 gallons would be almost $16,000 a day (4,500 x 3.5). Obviously there are other costs involved: manufacturing, advertising, seasonal variations, product loss, etc, but it still seems like an enormous disparity. Does all the milk go through a middle man that takes an enormous cut after selling it under a "name brand" ? edit: she meant pounds not gallons. Which would bring the number down to a much more reasonable amout

Exactly! A lotttttttt of the money is going to the middle man. Which is a big issue for us actually. The local farmers keep getting poorer, and the gallons of milk in the store keep going up...it's all staying with the middle man! :( lol

What does milk taste like straight out of a cow? How dangerous is it to drink like this?

I've tried it lol :) And it just tastes like warm milk really lol when I was little we never kept milk in the house, so I would take my bowl of cereal up to the barn and pour some out of the tank! As far as how dangerous it is? If you're raised drinking it like that, then your body is used to it so you'll be okay! Also, our farm keeps a low somatic cell count (how much bacteria is in the milk before it pasteurized)

thought you were gonna say you brought your bowl of cereal out and squeezed some out of the cow... ahaha.. Yea I'm dumb..

No way man you're not dumb, that's what I thought too. And I'm definitely not dumb.

"I totally thought /u/Silvertrumpet16 was talking about milking her cereal straight from the tap."

-Einstein

Lololol :D

Nah, I would take a tea pitcher up there and fill it up with milk from the bulk tank! Lol

I've been getting fresh raw milk from a local dairy for years. It's only been filtered and cooled. It tastes so damn good. "Store bought" milk tastes so bad and like it's fake after drinking fresh milk.

Amen brother! (or sister!) lol :)

How do you ensure a low somatic cell count before pasteurization?

We've been trained to use the best milking practices and cow care! We try our best to take care of our cows like family :)

I know nothing about farming, Is 125 cows considered a big number in dairy farming? also, how much milk your farm produce daily and how do you market it? thanks for doing this AMA.

For local dairy farming, that's a pretty big number!! There are big corporation-type farms that have thousands of cows and hundreds of workers! :)

How many gallons do yall pull each day?

And do the seasons affect milk output?

It ranges from 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of milk each day, which is two milkings! :)

edit: Almost forgot about the seasons! Spring and Fall are the best seasons for milk production! The cooler weather really helps :)

edit edit: lol She meant pounds, not gallons! Haha sorry for the confusion!

Holy shit. You have 125 cows that produce 4-5 thousand gallons per day in 2 milkings? Each cow can put out 16 gallons per milking? That's incredible. I'm incredulous.

OP probably meant pounds, not gallons. That's what milk is usually measured in. 1 gallon is about 8.3 pounds. Also, milk prices are usually given in dollars per 100 pounds. A typical price is around $15 per hundred, which would fit with the income figure OP gave earlier. A good milking cow can give about 100 pounds a day, which is about 12 gallons, but most cows will give below that, and there's always going to be heifers and dry cows that aren't giving any milk.

Thanks!

Oops!! She meant 4,000 to 5,000 pounds each day! Sorry, thanks for the comment!

What's your favorite kind of soup?

This is my favorite question :)

Mine is vegetable soup! My Momma's is broccoli cheddar and my dad's is vegetable soup, too!! :)

Broccoli Cheddar Soup!?! Why have I never been introduced to this ambrosia.

Either that or Loaded Potato soup!

Try a cheesy potato soup with bits of ham and broccoli thrown in! Best in a bread bowl, its like heaven!

That actually sounds really yummy!

What is the most disturbing or gross thing thats happened on the farm?

Since you asked, my mom has lost her wedding ring...twice...pulling a calf out of the mom cow! Lol :)

But in all seriousness, my mom said that it would have to be pulling a dead calf. When an animal dies it swells up and makes it very difficult to get it out.

A weird story is one time we had a calf with two faces! That one scarred my 8 year old self!

Was the one with two faces born alive or dead? What did you do with it? I find this really interesting.

It was born dead :( but we had something called the dead wagon come pick it up. Now that would be another interesting AMA!! A dead wagon truck driver!

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We have to stick our hand up the cow's....well, we help the cow give birth :) and then we let the mommy cow take care of the baby for a couple days, then take it to the other barn so we can train them to drink out of a bottle, then a bucket! :)

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We sell the bulls most of the time, which makes my mom sad lol she's bad about getting really attached lol she and my dad compromised and she gets to keep the red and white ones haha! :)

At what point between calf and bull, does the bull become aggressive and need to be kept separate?

Our bulls stay in with the milk cows, and we're just careful about watching them.

How much of that 115 acres is crop land? Is the manure from your 125 cows enough to fertilize the whole thing? What do you guys grow?

Probably 75 acres are for crops. Yeah, we have lots of fertilizer (one cow poops about 125 pounds a day!!) We grow corn, and wheat...then we use that to make feed for the cows to last through the winter :)

Wait what, 125pounds/day? How in the hell? How much does a cow eat per day?!

They feed 24 pounds of grains plus 25 pounds of alfalfa and silage per cow!!!

.... am I missing something? That doesn't quite add up..

The cow eats about 50 lbs a day, at least :)

Do you have a cow that is like a pet to you that would never be used for food later on?

Ahh yes!!!!!! I once had a cow name Tippy Toe!! She had a bad foot, so she couldn't run away from me when I would go to pet her!! I remember sitting on the concrete slab on my new phone texting away. She came up next to me and licked my face from chin to my hair! Cows have tongues like a cat, but their tongues are the size of a small cat! Haha! Man I love that cow, I really miss her :)

Does your family produce certified organic products? If not, is that something you are interested in doing? If you do, is it more profitable than not being organic?

We were interested in it, but unfortunately we can't afford it!! We would have to let the land "rest" for three years for it to be considered "organic" again :) As far as being more profitable? It's more successful, as long as you have a good market for it!

You can still farm the land during the three years, you just can't sell the milk as organic. Continue selling with the "traditional" route until you can be certified as you transition to organicly certifiable methods.

Source: my step-father has been certified organic dairy for about 15 yrs. PM if you'd like contact info. He LOVES trying to convert people.

Edit: spelling

They are interested in learning more about converting! Would you mind PMing me with a little more info :) thank you!

Do you keep a daily dairy diary?

This is too cute :D

My mom posts on her facebook about her day on the dairy farm all the time. And she does take time to write down her stories about her cows :)

So, does your dairy farm have a Facebook page? I'd love to see the going ons of you and your cows!

We don't have one right now, but my mom is interested in making one soon! Thanks for the idea :)

That's good enough for me :) Thank you and your folks.

Thank you :)

Do they play music in the barns to help the cows give more milk?

We play country music sometimes and listen to UK or UofL ballgames, but the machines in the parlor are pretty loud, so you can't really hear much anyway lol :D

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Noice!

To OP - what was your favourite part about growing up on a farm?

I'm from New Zealand and I grew up on a farm (initially dairy, converted to beef) - it was such a fun childhood. My brother and I spent all our free time playing in the yards, hay shed, making BMX tracks, climbing trees and chilling in our tree house, making huts... Heaps of fun! I think my favourite thing was raising a lamb (and a couple of calves) each year for our schools lamb and calf day.

What a cool thing for your school to do!! My favorite part was playing after school every day with my step-brother (he's five days older than me!) so we would play in the creek and make forts and swords out of old tobacco sticks! I also loved ice skating with Muck boots on lol

How do you feel about the abuse in the dairy industry and what steps do you take to prevent cruelty? Is your milk organic/free range? (Not a shot at you, I'm generally interested as I've taken more of a keen interest in animal rights recently)

EDIT: also, you mentioned you raised the cows from calfs to be milking cows, what do you do with the males?

I appreciate this sincerity in this question a lot. We are completely against any form of animal abuse. Our cows are our family, and we treat them with the same respect we would give to our family kitty :)

We sell the males to my dad's cousin. He has a farm, too!

Is it true that chocolate milk comes from brown cows?

I wish! :)

My son worked on a dairy farm for a few weeks, he said that cows will eat anything metal and that it's often fatal. Can you confirm this?

They eat it on accident, they just don't realize what they're doing! But it is fatal if they eat it! :) I bet that would hurt! Ouch!

Do you use the magnets to prevent this?

Yes, we have use them before! It works quite well :)

How often do you need to purchase new cows?

We raise our babies to be milking cows usually. But we usually purchase a couple every two or three months :)

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Yes it is! I would say which, but could someone tell me if I'm allowed to say? I'm on mobile and can't find it but I don't want to break the rules! :)

How intelligent are cows?

I heard that they have "clicks" (they like to hang out with specific friends).

Cows are very smart!! They're very social, and sometimes too curious for their own good! :) but yea, they're super smart! :)

How many people it take to milk that many cows?

It takes two people per milking, and each milking (one in the morning and one at night) takes around 4 hours!!

Usually two. Our parlor is small so three people would be too crowded! But it would be to much for just one person

How long does it take to milk one or a batch of cows? Do you have races? Is there an app to record your time and battle others online? If not why not!?

Nope, we can't race since we have to make sure that each cow is taken care of and milked properly. Obviously, there's a lot of poop on the farm and on the rear of a cow! If too much of it get into the milker, it can make the milk dangerous to drink, that's why we take 4 hours to milk each time!

What amount of poop typically enters the milker? What amount is considered safe? EDIT: a letter

We clean the cows teats every time right before we put on the milker, that way no dirt or anything gets into the tank! If the milker falls off, then we throw out that jug of milk so it doesn't have the chance to contaminate any other jugs :)

Hi!

I dream of someday having a small homestead, maybe being one of those guys who supplies local restaurants or grocers with meat/milk. On the milk side, I know there's an investment with milking equipment...how many animals is your break even point? Like...obviously if I have one cow, a whole industrial milking set-up probably isn't worth it...

Good question! My step-brother owns a few cows but he's in the beef business, he doesn't milk them or anything lol :) my mom said that without any days off, no help, and working on their own, they would have to milk 90 cows all year!

I'm from New England and a lot of folks here do dairy and beef. Usually have about 20 head of dairy, and I'm not sure how many beef.

Most of these small places are family or couple run, have CSA programs, and also grow some crops. If you want to see multiple models for this, just come visit Vermont, New Hampshire or Massachusetts.

Thank you! Mom says, "I always like to learn more!" What does CSA stand for? :)

tastewise which are the best milks you can get at the grocery?

We've sold to Dean's and to Kroger Brand milk...it's all about the same! (My mom likes Dean's the most though) lol :)

What is your opinion on pasteurization? Many claim that it destroys useful enzymes.

It does destroy enzymes, but they do that so it's safer. Pasteurization required by law for food safety. So yeah, it destroys enzymes, but we do it because we have to :)

How much did you miss your daughter when she went to Germany to study?

She says "I missed her a whole whole lotttt!!!" Lol I also sell fireworks during the summer so it was unfortunate that I wasn't there to help!

Do you name all of your cows? If so, which cow has the most unique personality?

I love this one!! Mom names most of them, Dad knows them by their faces and numbers lol :)

The cow with the most unique personality was probably my cow Tippy-Toe :) I remember when she use to sneak up beside me and lick my face! Cows' tongues are like a cat's but much bigger! Lol

We purchase our milk through local small dairy here in Colorado. Several months ago, there was flooding along the front range that effected the dairy and their herd. The dairy was quick to get their cows to high ground and reported that their supply line was safe. My question is: "Does stress on the cow affect quality, taste or quantity of the milk produced?"

Stress like that probably wouldn't affect the quality or taste, but it would have an effect on the quantity of milk produced!

How do you feel about laws that prohibit the sale of unpasteurized directly to consumers?

My mom says that she thinks it's safer for consumer protection, but those who know the dairy farmer well and are aware that it's a safe environment, she wishes that they could sell some like that. But unfortunately, anyone will sue at the drop of a hat! :(

How big is/was your largest adult milking cow? What about smallest?

Well over a thousand pounds! Her name was Grandma! The smallest one we had was named Lil' Bit, and she probably weighed about 800 pounds!

Can you tell us about your favorite cow?

My mom also wants to list a few of her favorites!

Tippy-Toe, Nosy Rosy, Popeye, and Waterbaby.

Her all-time favorite cow has to be Velvet. My dad actually gave her that cow as an engagement present (she got a ring, too lol) but she loved that cow. It was all black and silky smooth :D

Can i marry your daughter ?

Lol how sweet!

More than anything, I wanted to thank you both. Small, family-owned farms helped build this country. It is an honest, hard living. My question...how was the date? Cheers!

Mom, "We had a very nice meal! We were so hungry, and really appreciated having such awesome daughter that took the time to make our night so special!"

Thank you for your comment :)

If I said "You fight like a dairy farmer!", what would your response be?

How's that black eye? Lol jkjk! :)

My daughter is 18 months old. What are the top three things you suggest on raising a good kid?

My mom is certified in Early Childhood Education :) She suggests that you "read lots of books, limit technology time, and let them help you as often as you can. Just spending time with them is the most important. The toys will break, but they'll always have those memories!" :)

What did your parents, parents, do for a living?

My dad is a full-time dairy farmer, and my mom is a full-time preschool teacher and a dairy farmer in the evening lol :)