Monday, June 20, 2011

June Dairy Month Events Connect Farmers and Consumers




By Kimmi Devaney of Winners Drink Milk

As we wrap up June Dairy Month, don’t forget to show appreciation for all the hard work dairy farmers do day in and day out to provide you with your favorite dairy products.

June is a time to celebrate the men and women who produce one of the safest products in our food supply—milk. Dairy farmers don’t work ‘9 to 5’ and they don’t always get weekends or holidays off. Cows may need attention in the middle of the night or on Christmas morning. But this means no two days are the same.

Dairy farmers are dedicated and passionate about the land they farm, cows they take care of and providing you with wholesome, nutritious dairy products. This past Saturday, more than 500 people attended Brunch on the Farm at Nor-Bert Farms in Bremen, Indiana, and saw this firsthand.

This was an excellent opportunity to tour a working dairy farm, see robotic milking machines in action (they are pretty neat!) and to enjoy breakfast with the family. The event was free, but participants were encouraged to bring canned goods to be donated to a local food pantry. In all, we donated 602.5 pounds of food! Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.

Attendees ranged from dairy farmers to those who had never seen cows before. We caught up with a few of our younger visitors to get their opinion on the farm. Claire, Hanna and Joel from Osceola had never been to a farm before and thought it was “cool” and “fun.” After the tour, they all agreed their favorite part of the morning was watching the robots milk the cows. Laura from Muncie visited with her entire family. They are involved in agritourism, so she had a closer connection to the industry. “I really liked being on a farm,” she said. “I miss my cows!”  Like the others, Laura also enjoyed watching the robotic milking machines.

For more information on future events, visit WinnersDrinkMilk.com.

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