The Bovine Bugle

From cow to truck--how the milk gets to us

Above left: The milking parlor is called a "double-three herringbone"--with three cows on each side and the farmer in the middle.
Above center: Three cows stand munching grain before the milking machine is attached to their udders.
Above right: While three cows are milked, another three are brought into the parlor on the other side.

I happened to have the camera at the barn this morning, so I thought I would show you where our cows get milked and how the milk travels from the cow to the bulk tank where it is stored until the milk truck picks it up.

We milk in a double-three herringbone parlor. This means that we put three cows on each side of the "pit", and we stand in the pit while we milk the cows. "Herringbone" refers to the configuration of the stalls in the parlor that the cows stand inside while being milked. We milk with three milking machines, swinging them from one side to the other to milk the cows on either side.

The cows enter the parlor, are washed and prepped for milking as they eat their grain out of the mangers. After waiting 60-90 seconds, we attach the milking machines. As these three cows are being milked, we bring in the next three to be prepped and fed. Once the cows being milked are done, we swing the machines over to the prepped and waiting cows, and let the just-milked cows out of the parlor.

The milk travels by vacumn through the stainless steel pipeline to the glass receiver jar in the milk house. The jar fills and pumps out to the bulk tank all through milking. The milk is stored in the 800-gallon bulk tank where it is cooled down to 37 degrees F. The milk is picked up every-other-day by a tractor-trailer tank truck. From here, the milk heads down the road, eventually to Stonyfield Farm to be made into delicious yogurt.

Got a question about how all this works, or anything else about organic dairy farming? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Below left: A vacuum tube sends the milk from the cow to a glass receiver jar.
Below center: The glass receiver jar fills, then sends the milk along to the bulk tank.
Below right: This 800-gallon tank cools the milk and stores it until the tanker truck comes to pick it up and deliver it.

The latest scoop on the coop

Above: Son Ben and brother Steve hammer away at the frame to the rapidly rising chicken coop.

I thought I would give an update on how the building of the chicken coop for Sylvia Peltier is progressing. (See entry Mary 25, 2005) Ben, Steve, and I spent an afternoon at Sylvia's house and we made some great progress on the project. In a few hours we had the walls up, plumbed, and anchored, and we had the framework of the roof done and ready for the steel roofing material. We put the wheelchair ramp in place, too, in case Sylvia wanted to check our progress.

Sylvia, and her husband, Ron, watched our progress on the building along with Sylvia's service dog, Odie. When it was time for us to quit, Ron arrived back from town with cold drinks and cree-mees (that's what we call soft-serve ice cream in my neck of the woods) for everyone. Again, they couldn't thank us enough for doing this project for them.

Yesterday, I went down to start putting the roofing steel on, leaving a note for Ben to come along once he got home from school after morning exams. I had half of the roof on when I had to quit because of the rain. I was soaked, and I had to borrow a couple of towels from Sylvia to put on the car seat for the ride home. I met Ben on the way home, and he turned around and came back. If the weather cooperates, we'll try to do some more this week. Sylvia's chicks had gotten too big for the one box, so Ron attached a second box and made a doorway between the two.

Below: Sylvia and guide dog Odie patiently await the completion of the coop.


Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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The last of the summer guests arrive at Howmars Farm

The two-week old turkey poults took up residence at the farm today. Dave Adams, of Adams Turkey Farm, called this morning to double check on how many poults we wanted and to tell me when to meet him at a local farm store where he was delivering turkeys. We ordered 40 hens and 10 toms, and I could meet Dave in about an hour in Enosburg at Bates' Farm and Home store.

After Dave and I caught up on what was going on at each other's farm, we loaded the three boxes of poults into my truck and I headed back to the farm. The pen was bedded and ready for the turkeys, so it was a quick job to get them settled into their new home. We'll keep them inside until they are about 6 weeks old, and then they will be put outside in their portable shelter until they go for processing at Dave's farm.

So now, with the cows, heifers, and steers out grazing, the laying hens and meatbirds in their portable shelters, the layer chicks and turkey poults off to a good start, Christmas trees planted, and the garden in, I'd say summer season is in full swing here at Howmars Farm. In a couple of days, once school is out, the summer work crew will be at Mom and Dad's mercy!!

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Sun's shining--better make hay

This hot, sunny weather that has been hanging around for the past week has been great for getting in the first cutting of hay. My feed supplier, Dennis, finished his haying a couple of days ago. He normally puts all the first cutting into baleage, the plastic wrapped round bales. The weather can be kind of fickle in late May/early June making it hard to dry the grass enough to make dry hay.

Most farmers around here, including Dennis, had their first cutting in much earlier than last year. This means the grass was not too mature and the feed will have a much higher nutritional value and taste better to the cows. This translates into higher milk production from the cows and less wasted feed since the cows will more of the hay.

In about a month I will have my grain salesman take some core samples from the round bales to see how the feed tests. Based on the protein and energy levels of the forage, we will be able to formulate our grain ration to get the best milk production for the least cost. And, hopefully, when the hayfields are mowed again for the second cuttting, Dennis will truck down all the first cut round bales. This way the bales will have finished the fermentation process and be more stable for transporting, and with the fields mowed we won't trample down the uncut hay getting to the bales.

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Why did the chickens cross the road? To get to their summer house and green grass!

Today was moving day for the meat bird and laying chicks (and Noah's rooster, of course). Space was getting pretty tight in their pen, and they were definitely old enough to go out and the weather conditions were great for starting them in their summer digs.

We first took the laying chicks and rooster out of the pen, put them in a cardboard box, and put them in their new home. They all huddled in the corner furthest from the door, not quite knowing what to make of their new surroundings. With that group situated, we backed up the lawnmower and trailer to the window located behind the pen holding the meat birds. Noah and I handed all 70 birds out the window to Karen, and she placed them in the trailer under the plywood covering. Slowly we drove across the road and into the pasture where the portable shelter, or "chicken tractor", was set up for the meat birds. Soon after placing them in the shelter they were waddling around, nibbling at the grass and finding where the grain feeder and waterer were located.

Seeing the chickens out on the lush, green grass in the sunshine and fresh air helps me see why the meat and eggs from these birds is so much better tasting and so much better for you than birds raised in crowded confinement operations. The same goes for the milk our cows are producing now that they are out grazing. My oldest son, Ben, commented on how much better the milk tastes when the cows are on grass. The milk has a sweet, fresh taste and has a rich, yellow color. Too bad we can't graze year 'round.

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Our "eyes" are on planting seed potatoes today

With the garden tilled and the rows marked out, Noah and I planted some potatoes today. Usually potatoes are the first thing to go into the ground, then the other vegetables we grow from seed, and then the bedding plants that Karen started or that we bought from a gardener here in town.

Noah and I sorted over smaller potatoes we had saved from last year's crop to use as seed potatoes this spring. I told Noah to make sure the potatoes had at least two good "eyes" so that they would produce a strong plant. We both filled a 2 1/2 gallon bucket, then we headed to the garden to plant them. Noah worked across from me and watched how I spaced out the seed potatoes. He did an excellent job, with Dad only having to add a potato here and there to fill in a space between his potatoes.

Hilling the potatoes wasn't one of Noah's favorite parts of the process, and soon after we had started he decided it was too hard for him and he went to get his bathing suit on and jump in the pool. It didn't take me long to get the morning's planting covered up, and the garden of 2005 was officially begun.

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Enjoying the beauty of spring is one of the benefits of grazing your animals

As Noah and I did fence the other day, I snapped pictures of some of the beautiful wildflowers blossoming right now. It can be very peaceful along the meadows and through the woods while we walk the fence lines. It lets us enjoy the beauty and wonder of spring, the new life coming from the earth after the bitter cold of winter.

Having a 6-year old along with you will make you stop and look at things you would have missed in the hustle to get the work done. It's good for us adults to be reminded to slow down, enjoy the world around us, and remember what it's like to be a kid again. As an organic farmer, we are out in the pastures and woods all summer long as the cows graze through the rotation 6 or more times. This close connection with our cows, and with the land, deepens our love and respect for our animals and for the land from which everything comes.
Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Don't you get enough exercise working on the farm??!!

Left to right: Team members Jonathan, Ben, Derek, Jamie, and Jeremy.

Today was race day as our relay team headed to the Key Bank Vermont City Marathon. This was the second year in a row that we managed to get a team entry in the race. Our five-member team competed in the mixed-team open relay, with each member of the team running a leg of the race ranging in distance from 3.1 miles to 6.5 miles.

I was up at 4:15 AM to get the next grazing paddock ready for the cows and to do a few odd jobs in the barn before Ben and I headed out. We left the house a little before 6, picked up my niece, Jamie, and her boyfriend, Jeremy, in Highgate, and headed down the interstate to Burlington. We met our 5th team member, Derek, at Battery Park where the race started. The race went great. About 3500 runners were at the start, and almost 7000 total runners participated in the full marathon or on a relay team. Our team finished in 3:21:37, good enough for 33 place out of 421 mixed-relay teams.

The funniest moment for me was on the way to the park for the start of the race. As we waited to cross a street, I looked over and saw a man that looked exactly like someone who comes to the farm to buy milk. I knew it wasn't Ricki, so it had to be his identical twin, Randy, whom I had never met. I introduced myself, and we chatted on our way to the park. Randy, who is also a dairy farmer, was there with his son who was running on a youth team. Out of the thousands of people who were there for the race that day, it was amazing that I would run into someone like Randy.

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

ABOUT THE BOVINE BUGLE

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