Holstein
Guernsey
Ayrshire
Dairy Farming for ME
Brown Swiss
Jersey
Milking Shorthorn
This Book written especially for the
“Read ME Agriculture�
Volunteer Reading Project As a special gift to participating Pre-Kindergarten to Fourth grade Classrooms from Maine Agriculture in the Classroom www.MaineAgintheClassroom.org
and the
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Dairy Farming for ME
Dairy Farming for ME Made possible by the USDA Agriculture in the Classroom Excellence Grant And funding from The Maine Dairy Promotion Board And Our Maine Agriculture Specialty License Plate
THANK YOU TO EVERY MAINE DRIVER THAT PROUDLY DISPLAYS THIS PLATE! Book and Pictures by the “Dairy Farming for ME” committee Cheryl Beyeler – Maine Dairy Promotion Board / Maine Dairy & Nutrition Council Jenni Tilton Flood – Maine Dairy Promotion Board Kate Fogler – Maine Dairy Promotion Board Joyce Larrabee – Aglahoma Farm Marilyn Schofield – Happy Acres Farm Christine Bozak – Maine AG in the Classroom Program Committee Teresa Hardy – Maine Dairy & Nutrition Council Willie Sawyer Grenier – Maine AG in the Classroom Executive Director Photo Editor: Elaine Stedman – Stedy Rise Farm Pictures supplied by Maine Dairy Farmers across the state
Our cover shows the 6 main breeds of dairy cows in Maine. Dairy Products for You!
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All mammals give milk for their young. Dairy cows give enough milk for people to drink too. Milk helps you grow strong! The calcium in milk builds strong bones and teeth!
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Dairy Farming for ME
There are dairy farms of different sizes across our state. All Maine dairy farms produce pure, healthy, fresh milk!
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Dairy cows must have a calf before they can give milk. A female calf is called a heifer and a male is called a bull. Calves weight 40 to 100 pounds when they are born. Only heifers grow up to have calves and give milk. 6
Dairy Farming for ME
Each farm has a special place to raise their calves. They may live in a barn or have their own hutch. All the calves are fed milk, feed and water to help them grow strong.
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As they grow older the heifers are moved to another barn or pasture. The farmer continues to feed them a nutritious diet to help them grow.
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Dairy Farming for ME
The farmer works with a veterinarian to keep all the heifers healthy. They receive vaccinations to keep them safe from disease just like people do.
At two years old they have their first calf and move into the milking herd. Then they are called cows. Dairy Products for You!
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Cows’ bodies make milk and they store it in their udder. Most Maine dairy cows are milked twice and give 50-100 pounds of milk each day. Cows like to be milked. They line up outside the door or by the pasture gate when it is milking time. 10
Dairy Farming for ME
Carousel Milking Parlor
Today very few cows are milked by hand. Farmers use a milking machine that gently pulses and uses mild suction to remove the milk from the udder. At some farms the cows are milked right in their stalls with a pipe line system, but at other farms they take turns in a milking parlor.
Pipeline System
Straight Stall Milking Parlor
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To produce milk dairy cows need a nutritious diet. 1.
Silage goes in the mixer wagon 2. Water Bowl
Add grain from the silo 3.
Feed it to the cows 12
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Most are fed grain, hay and silage. If these are mixed together it is called TMR which means Total Mixed Ration. Each cow drinks a bathtub full of clean water each day.
Hoof Trimmer Veterinarian
Cows need doctors just like people. The veterinarian checks them all through their lives and even makes barn calls if they are sick. A hoof trimmer is a professional that comes to the farm to trim the cows’ feet so they can walk properly. Dairy Products for You!
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Spring – Planting Crops
Summer – Haying
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Dairy Farming for ME
Fall – Feed is ready for Winter.
Winter – Most cows are in the barn. Dairy Products for You!
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Silage is a type of feed that cows can digest that people cannot. It is made from grass or corn stalks. It is stored in bags, tubes, and silos.
Dumped
Spread
Packed 16
Dairy Farming for ME
Once the grass is dumped into the truck, it is hauled to the silo where another tractor spreads and packs it.
Hay is baled or chopped in the summer and stored in a barn or outside in large bales to feed the animals during the winter. Sometimes the bales are wrapped in plastic and called haylage.
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Methane Digester
Dairy farmers take good care of their land so they can use it every year. The manure from the cows is spread back on the fields to recycle the nutrients as natural fertilizer. This helps the grass and crops grow green and strong. Some farms also have a digester that uses methane gas from the manure to generate electricity. Manure Spreader
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Dairy Farming for ME
Corn Planter
Tractor
Dairy farmers use machines to help do the work. There are tractors, planters, balers, rakes, manure spreaders, plows, combines and more! The farmers and their mechanics help keep the machinery running.
Rake
Tractor
Round Baler Square Baler
Mowing Machine
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Farm records are kept for all the cows using charts and computers. It is important to know when the cows will calve and how much milk they produce each year. Farm costs must be tracked to know how much money is earned.
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Dairy Farming for ME
Young people on the farm have jobs too! Chores must be done each day, but it is fun to live on the farm.
In the summer many show their animals at the fair. The heifers must be washed and clipped so they look their best. They may join the 4-H Club.
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After milking, the milk is cooled and stored in bulk tanks. The milk truck picks it up and delivers it to the processing plant. The truck is refrigerated and can hold up to 60,000 pounds of milk. Some farms have their own processing plants.
Milk Truck
Bulk Tank
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Dairy Farming for ME
When milk reaches the processing plant, first it is pasteurized by heating to kill germs. The fat or cream may be removed to use in other products or homogenized so that it stays mixed into the milk.
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ŠGeorgeBarkerPhoto.com2011
Machines are used to fill many different sized containers made of plastic, glass, or cardboard. Each container is stamped with a freshness date. Some plants make yogurt, cheese, ice cream and other dairy products.
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And now you can get these products in the grocery stores. Dairy products are very good for you! Yogurt, cheese, butter, ice cream and cottage cheese are all made from milk. It is important to get 3 servings of dairy products each day.
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Maine dairy farmers are doing their jobs EVERY day of the year so you can enjoy healthy, delicious dairy products! Next time you drive by a Maine dairy farm you will know why they are so important to you and to ME! 26
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