Twenty-one-year-old Kamille Brawner is a junior at Purdue University who lives and breathes dairy farming. She is majoring in Ag Business Marketing with a minor in Animal Science. Kamille is a proud fourth-generation dairy farmer from Hanover. “Dairy farming has always been a huge part of my life and helped shape me into the person I am today. Even though I’m away at college, I still go home as much as possible and help out on the farm. I have two older sisters and an older brother, and our job growing up was to help on the farm where it was needed. Most of my fondest memories from my childhood are from helping on the farm. On Christmas morning, the farm work had to be done before we could open our presents. That’s still how it is, and I don’t know any other way.”
Kamille is the daughter of Greg and Teresa Brawner. She says that her brother and dad currently work together on the farm. The Brawners milk 200 cows, primarily Holsteins. They also raise corn, soybeans, and hay. Kamille stays as active as possible in the dairy industry. Last summer she interned for Organic Valley which allowed her to tour other dairy farms in her area. She served as the 2014-2015 Indiana Dairy Princess, allowing her to attend the Indiana State Fair and visit the dairy barn and shows to speak with farmers and leaders about the dairy industry. She also hosted events at her local high school to promote dairy. Last year, during school, Kamille was also actively involved with the American Dairy Association of Indiana. “Next summer I will actually be doing something completely different for me and will be interning at John Deere in Iowa. Everything I have done up until now has involved dairy, so I’m anxious to try something new. I am still looking forward to doing anything dairy when I’m not working for John Deere.”
Animal care is a top priority for the Brawners. “We always make sure the cows have fresh sawdust for bedding, and their stalls are always clean. In the summer, when it is hot, we have fans to help them keep cool and we spray them with water while they are waiting to be milked or if they are lactating, as that greatly increases their body temperature. The cows are always on fresh pasture during the summer months, and we rotate it every 2 days. They are also fed a very balanced ration to make sure they are getting all the vitamins and nutrients they need to stay healthy and produce milk. In the winter, we have tarps in the parlor, where the cows are milked, that come down for added warmth. We also perform regular herd checks. Each cow has a monitoring device, which is an ear tag, that allows us to monitor their health closely.”
1 comment:
Very nice article.
Thanks for sharing.
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