Pretty & Punchy

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Growing up in South Texas, I learned the ins and outs of cattle ranching during summers when it would reach 120 degrees. When things would get complicated, my father would say, "It's like working on a dairy" or "Today was a dairy kinda day" I never really understood this metaphor as I always imagined dairy work to be easy. So what? You milk the cows, feed them, and meet their basic needs. How tedious could dairy farming be?

I could not have been more wrong. This past week I decided to immerse myself in the industry, and today, I am so sore that I have to take an ibuprofen to take an ibuprofen.

I woke up at 4:30 am to drive to Franklin, Texas, where I was met with one of my life's most fun and educational opportunities. Mr. Douglas Liere, the owner and manager of the operation, welcomed me into their facilities with open arms and vastly widened my insight concerning a lesser talked about subculture in agriculture.

We began the day at 7:00 am in the milking parlor. Several types of milking parlors include parallel, herringbone, and rotary. Mr. Liere uses a parallel parlor with dual return lanes in his operation. While the others prepared to milk, Mr. Liere took me into his free stall barn and showed me how he separated his groups; four groups are split based on their lactation stage. So, for example, 3 of the groups are milked in the middle of the night, but all four are milked in the morning and afternoon.

Once the cows were pushed into the parlor, we applied foam hydrogen peroxide to their teats to clean them. One of the workers went through and hand-milked each cow to check for mastitis before we began the milking process. I went behind her with a rag to wipe off the hydrogen peroxide, and Mr. Liere's two sons went behind me and attached the milking clusters.

Because the cows have different production rates, there was not a moment of breathing time before the clusters began detaching themselves. Once the clusters detached, we used a foam iodine solution on each teat. After every cow was milked, they were released from the stalls, and the next group would walk in and set themselves up for milking without even being pushed or guided. This was one of the most fun things I have ever done.

While helping with the milking process, I wondered where the milk went after it left the cow. Mr. Liere showed me all their tanks and filters and explained that a milk truck comes almost daily to pick up the milk and take it for pasteurization. During this walkthrough, I learned that to make the milk cold, it is run through a pipe in the opposite direction of cold water. This storage portion fascinated me because it was room temperature when I placed my hand on one of the pipes, but it was almost freezing cold when I put it on another pipe.

After we finished milking, one of the employees showed me how the cleaning process was completed. After each milking, all facilities must be cleaned using water, soap, and an acid solution. This portion of the process is significant for consumer safety. When I asked Mr. Liere about regulations, he explained that the health inspector visits their dairy monthly, and if the inspector finds something deemed harmful, their milk tanks are emptied, which is a considerable loss.

While helping with the cleaning process, I met one of many dogs living on the farm. Pictured below is Chloe, and she is a smiling chihuahua mix.

Before lunch, Mr. Liere showed me how they mix their feed ration. I had never taken a nutrition class before, so much of this went over my head, but I could grasp a few things. They use ground hominy, brewer's grain, tons of supplements, a toxin neutralizer, ground limestone for calcium, and molasses. Mr. Liere explained that the things the cows eat dictate the substance of their milk. If they are fed more hominy, their milk will be higher in butterfat; if they are fed more brewer's grain, their milk will be higher in protein. Ground limestone is used to replace calcium. And finally, the toxin neutralizer is used in case the hominy or brewer's grain contains a toxin. In addition to these feeds, hay is also used in the ration. The type of hay used depends on the consistency and nutritional value. Some types of hay are more stringy and will take more energy to chew. Mr. Liere also taught me about silage which is cut and fermented grass. At his operation, they grow and cut their own silage.

I also got the opportunity to learn about their manure system. This was exceptionally cool because it resembled a giant above-ground septic system. Recycled water from a lagoon is pumped into tanks, and once the valves are opened on the tanks, water runs across the free stall barn to push manure into extensive inground holding facilities. A manufactured cliff lined with telephone poles was on the other side of these inground holding facilities. The telephone polls allow the liquids to pass through but the solids to stay behind. Mr. Leire informed me that he is about to sign a lease with a company out of Massachusetts planning to fill their manure system with food waste and create a huge above-ground cow stomach using the microbes in the manure, which will produce methane that the company can capture and sell.

After lunch, I witnessed several artificial inseminations completed on some heifers who had come into estrus. While I have palpated a few times before and have seen artificial inseminations in the past, repeated exposure to this process only makes me want to learn more about it. At this operation, they have a professional who comes out and looks at each animal to determine which traits need improvement and then selects a sire based on those traits.

Toward the end of the day, I helped Mr. Liere's sons feed calves. Four calves were housed in a separate location because they showed signs of pneumonia. Mr. Liere told me that the calves received Penicillin and Draxxin. After we finished bottle-feeding the calves, we had to place their heads between our legs and guide their noses to the ground so that they could cough up any "sick stuff." Those little calves were sooooo sweet.

And before I knew it, 10 hours had passed, and it was 5 pm. I had remained so busy throughout the day that the time just flew by. This was, without a doubt, one of the most educational opportunities I have had. Although this was the most labor-intensive job site I have been on, I would work with Mr. Liere every single day if my schedule allowed. I finally understand what my father meant when he would say, "This is like working on a dairy."

Bloggers note: We can read these things, but agricultural articles are often not from a first-hand perspective or are far too scientific to follow. Therefore, if you have questions and time, I highly recommend involving yourself in an agricultural industry you have yet to experience. Until then, I will continue writing this blog in a language we can all understand.