Today’s farmer knows a lot more about farming than our ancestors did. Farmers need to know about the land, crops, animals, selling the products, managing money, and borrowing money when they need it. Tokyo Escorts

There are two groups of farms: specialized and mixed farms. Specialized farms raise crops or animals that grow well in their area. Farmers would not waste their time and money planting a crop if the climate would not let it grow well. Some examples of crops on a specialized farm are:
Corn Soybeans
Wheat Potatoes
Sugar beets Pineapples
Nuts Cotton
Flowers Christmas trees

Specialized livestock farms include about half of all farms in the United States . Some examples of animals on livestock farms are:
Beef cattle Sheep
Dairy cattle Goats
Hogs/Pigs Poultry
Horses

Some farms are mixed farms because they produce two or more products. The dairy farm we visited produced milk, calves to sell, plus corn, hay, and soybeans that they used to feed the animals.

Wrong! When we got there, Mr. Makarevich told us that their typical day begins at 4 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m. During the whole tour, it was obvious that there was a lot of work involved during all times of the year. Even though it was winter, their day included: Dubai Escorts

· Starting work at 4 – 4:30 a.m. [7 days a week]. It’s even DARK then!
· Cleaning and sanitizing [getting rid of germs] of the hoses, connections, and pipes that the milk flows through. [Picture on left.]
· Feeding the cows.
· Milking the cows. [Picture to the right.] Once the machines are turned on, the milk goes through tubes until it reaches a big milk jar. It is checked to be sure the milk is good and then it goes into the bulk tank where it waits for the milk truck to come and haul it away. The milk truck will take the milk to a dairy, where it will be pasteurized and homogenized for health safety.

The big bottle is checked all the time to make sure that the milk doesn’t have anything bad in it. It goes into a big tank [dark picture] where a tube of milk is taken out by the milk hauler so that they can test it when they get to the dairy.>

The farmer’s day also included:
· Taking the cows out to the exercise yard in warmer weather and then cleaning their stalls. In colder months, the cows stay in and they have to clean the stalls around the cows.
· Taking care of the animals: checking bruises, wounds, hooves–just seeing that the cow is healthy.
· Feeding and taking care of the young calves. [Bottle feeding for the new ones, a bucket of milk for the older ones.]
· Taking care of the crops when the weather is warmer. [Sowing, growing, harvesting]. Checking out the feed that is stored in silos and grain bins; doing maintenance on equipment. To lower food costs, the dairy farmer grows part of the food for the cows.
· Sanitizing the hoses, connections, and pipes again.
· Milking the cows again around 4:00 p.m.
· Checking milk to be sure that the butterfat content is right and that there isn’t anything wrong with the milk so that the hauler can come to get it.
· Feeding cows.

The farm has 210 cows and 3 bulls. The main home farm is 180 acres but they actually farm 700 acres when you count the outlying fields.
As you can see, the picture that we had of farmers taking it easy in the winter, was definitely not true. Even though the job is seven, long days a week, Mr. Makarevich seemed to be…. loving it. When we told him that, he said, “You have to love it, to do it.”

Approximately half of the country’s dairy cows suffer from mastitis, a bacterial infection of their udders. This is such a common and costly ailment that a dairy industry group, the National Mastitis Council, was formed specifically to combat the disease. Other diseases, such as Bovine Leukemia Virus, Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus, and Johne’s disease (whose human counterpart is Crohn’s disease) are also rampant on modern dairies, but they commonly go unnoticed because they are either difficult to detect or have a long incubation period. A cow eating a normal grass diet could not produce milk at the abnormal levels expected on modern dairies, and so today’s dairy cows must be given high energy feeds. The unnaturally rich diet causes metabolic disorders including ketosis, which can be fatal, and laminitis, which causes lameness.
Another dairy industry disease caused by intensive milk production is “Milk Fever.” This ailment is caused by calcium deficiency, and it occurs when milk secretion depletes calcium faster than it can be replenished in the blood.
In a healthy environment, cows would live in excess of twenty-five years, but on modern dairies, they are slaughtered and made into ground beef after just three or four years. The abuse wreaked upon the bodies of dairy cows is so intense that the dairy industry also is a huge source of “downed animals” — animals who are so sick or injured that they are unable to walk even stand. Investigators have documented downed animals routinely being beaten, dragged, or pushed with bulldozers in attempts to move them to slaughter.
Although the dairy industry is familiar with the cows’ health problems and suffering associated with intensive milk production, it continues to subject cows to even worse abuses in the name of increased profit. Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), a synthetic hormone, is now being injected into cows to get them to produce even more milk. Besides adversely affecting the cows’ health, BGH also increases birth defects in their calves.
Calves born to dairy cows are separated from their mothers immediately after birth. The half that are born female are raised to replace older dairy cows in the milking herd. The other half of the calves are male, and because they will never produce milk, they are raised and slaughtered for meat. Most are killed for beef, with close to one million being used for veal.
The veal industry was created as a by-product of the dairy industry to take advantage of an abundant supply of unwanted male calves. Veal calves commonly live for eighteen to twenty weeks in wooden crates that are so small that they cannot turn around, stretch their legs, or even lie down comfortably. The calves are fed a liquid milk substitute, deficient in iron and fiber, which is designed to make the animals anemic, resulting in the light-colored flesh that is prized as veal. In addition to this high-priced veal, some calves are killed at just a few days old to be sold as low-grade ‘bob’ veal for products like frozen TV dinners.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated that Montcalm County dairy farms produced 205 million pounds of milk in 1999, up from 145 million in 1998. Montcalm County ranks 6th in the state in total milk produced. Dubai Escorts

Breeds
Feed & Nutrition
Housing
Milking
Marketing

Breeds

The vast majority of dairy cows in Montcalm County are Holsteins. Most Holsteins are readily identified by their black and white spots, although some have a red and white color pattern. A healthy Holstein calf weighs 90 pounds at birth. A mature Holstein (3 years of age) weighs 1500 pounds. Holsteins are the most popular breed of dairy cattle in the United States, comprising about 90% of the cow’s milk produced in the US. This is primarily because Holsteins excel at producing large quantities of milk.

The Jersey is the second most common breed in Montcalm County. Jerseys very greatly in color, but they are characterized by a shade of fawn with or without white markings. Their muzzle is black encircled by a light colored ring, and the tongue and switch may be either white or black. Jerseys are the smallest of dairy breeds, with a mature size of about 1000 pounds. Jerseys are noted for having the highest milkfat of any breed.

In addition to Holstein and Jersey, Montcalm County is home to a limited number of Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorn dairy cows.

The Brown Swiss breed originated in Switzerland and is the oldest of the pure dairy breeds. Brown Swiss are known for their long life and outstanding feet and legs. They are colored solid brown with a black nose, tongue and tail.

The Guernsey is a shade of fawn, either solid or with white markings, with golden yellow pigmentation. The breed is moderate in size with mature cows weighing 1,150 pounds. The Guernsey is noted for the superior flavor of its golden-colored milk – naturally high in all milk solids.

Ayrshires are deep cherry red, mahogany, brown or a combination of any of these colors with white or white alone. A mature Ayrshire weighs at least 1,200 pounds. Ayrshires are characterized by strongly attached, evenly balanced, well shaped udders.

Milking Shorthorns are either red, red and white, or roan. Milking Shorthorns are known for their excellent reproductive efficiency and long life.

Feed & Nutrition

The vast majority of dairy cows in Montcalm County are Holsteins. Most Holsteins are readily identified by their black and white spots, although some have a red and white color pattern. A healthy Holstein calf weighs 90 pounds at birth. A mature Holstein (3 years of age) weighs 1500 pounds. Holsteins are the most popular breed of dairy cattle in the United States, comprising about 90% of the cow’s milk produced in the US. This is primarily because Holsteins excel at producing large quantities of milk.

The Jersey is the second most common breed in Montcalm County. Jerseys very greatly in color, but they are characterized by a shade of fawn with or without white markings. Their muzzle is black encircled by a light colored ring, and the tongue and switch may be either white or black. Jerseys are the smallest of dairy breeds, with a mature size of about 1000 pounds. Jerseys are noted for having the highest milkfat of any breed.

In addition to Holstein and Jersey, Montcalm County is home to a limited number of Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorn dairy cows.

The Brown Swiss breed originated in Switzerland and is the oldest of the pure dairy breeds. Brown Swiss are known for their long life and outstanding feet and legs. They are colored solid brown with a black nose, tongue and tail.

The Guernsey is a shade of fawn, either solid or with white markings, with golden yellow pigmentation. The breed is moderate in size with mature cows weighing 1,150 pounds. The Guernsey is noted for the superior flavor of its golden-colored milk – naturally high in all milk solids.

Ayrshires are deep cherry red, mahogany, brown or a combination of any of these colors with white or white alone. A mature Ayrshire weighs at least 1,200 pounds. Ayrshires are characterized by strongly attached, evenly balanced, well shaped udders.

Milking Shorthorns are either red, red and white, or roan. Milking Shorthorns are known for their excellent reproductive efficiency and long life.

Housing

Dairy housing facilities range widely by farm and age of the animal. Calves are typically housed individually to prevent respiratory and other diseases from spreading from one animal to another. Calves need a dry, draft-free environment. Hutches or individual pens in a larger building are the most common housing arrangements for calves.As calves age, they are grouped by size. A common way to house heifers is in open fronted buildings designed to minimize labor requirements during feeding and manure removal.

Most dairy cows in Montcalm County are housed in either stanchion barns or freestall barns. Some are given access to an open corral or pasture. Stanchion barns, sometimes called stall barns, are the more traditional type of dairy cow housing. Because each cow has her own stall, stanchion barns allow for more individual attention for cows. However, the disadvantages of stanchion barns include having to stoop down during milking and increased labor for distributing feed to each individual cow.

Most new housing facilities built today are freestall barns. Freestalls are simple in design, allowing each individual cow to select her own stall to lie in. The cow makes her own decision when she wants to exit the stall and move to the feed bunk or water trough. Many different bases for freestalls are used throughout the county including sawdust, sand, or mattresses made of rubber. Another major advantage of freestalls is the ability to feed all cows along a fence line by a feed wagon or truck. In addition, freestalls allow for ease of grouping cows by production or other management considerations like stage in reproductive life.

Milking

While each individual farm may have its own standard operating procedure for milking cows, there are some key steps that nearly every farm follows. Once the cow enters the milking parlor or stanchion barn where she will be milked, the cow’s udder is cleaned. This may be done by wiping the udder with a clean, dry cloth and coating the cow’s four teats with a cleaning solution containing iodine or some other sanitizer. This process does
two things: removes dirt and bacteria to ensure a clean milk supply and stimulates the cow to “let down” or release her milk. After 15 to 20 seconds of contact time to kill bacteria and stimulate milk let down, the teats are then wiped clean with a towel or cloth and the milking unit is applied. The milking unit creates a controlled vacuum that opens the teat end and allows milk to flow out. The vacuum does not hurt the cow, operating similarly to the action of a suckling calf or a baby sucking his thumb. Many milking units are automated so they release automatically from the cow’s teats when milk flow slows. It takes approximately five minutes to milk a cow. Once the milking unit is removed, teats are dipped with a safe, proven teat dip containing an effective germicide. During this process, milk is never exposed to air. It travels through the milking unit through sanitized pipelines to a refrigerated storage tank where it is quickly cooled to 45°F or lower.

Marketing

Most Montcalm family farms are members of milk marketing cooperatives. These cooperatives are owned and controlled by the member patrons. Often a single farm does not produce enough milk to ship an entire truckload to a milk processing facility. The cooperatives market the farmers’ milk as a group, shipping truckloads of milk to various processing facilities across the state. Milk is either bottled for the fluid market or manufactured into one of many scrumptious dairy products like ice cream, yogurt, butter or cheese.

The northern part of Montcalm County is home to a large Amish community. Many Amish make all or part of their living from the dairy business. Milk from many of the Amish farms is shipped to the Farm Country Cheese House, located south of Lakeview. Visitors have an opportunity to watch cheese making and select from a wide variety of cheeses for purchase when visiting the Farm Country Cheese House.

Cattle are raised all over the world.  In India, people think cattle are holy so they aren’t killed or eaten there.  Some kinds of beef cattle are Aberdeen, Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Herefords, and Polled Herefords.  Farmers pick which breed they want to raise by the climate where they live.  For example, some cattle can be raised in areas where there isn’t too much water.
Male cattle are called bulls and females are called cows.  Steers are males who cannot reproduce.  Young cows are called heifers until they have babies.  Then they are called dams.  The father is called a sire and the baby is a calf.
Most cattle are registered.  When an animal is registered, their ancestors are traced and written down.  This is stored by an organization that keeps track of breeding information.  Cattle get an ear tag when they are registered.  The ancestors of animals are important when farmers do selective breeding.
Cattle are usually kept in pastures where they eat the grass.  When cattle eat, they swallow and then bring the food back up into their mouths to chew again.  This is called cud.  Ranchers [Cattle farmers] know how many cattle can be kept in the pasture before all the grass will be gone.
Calves are born in the spring.  They are watched carefully and given shots so they don’t get diseases.  They get branded with a mark that shows a ranch symbol.  If the cattle wander away from the ranch, this shows people where they belong.
Later in spring the herds are moved to different pastures so that the grass can grow back again.  Ranchers put out salt licks with minerals in them.  These are solid blocks of salt [with minerals] that cattle like to lick.  Farmers will move the herds every three or four weeks.
Just like in cowboy movies, ranchers use horses to herd the cattle from one pasture to another.  Some ranchers use four-wheel drive vehicles.
In fall, the herds will be moved closer to the farm house.  These pastures will be ones that were used in the early spring and will have grown grass again.  Beef cattle are usually sold then.  If cattle are kept over the winter, they go to smaller pastures nearer to the house.  This is so that the rancher does not have to go so far to check on them when it gets cold.  The ranchers will have to feed them when it snows.
Beef cattle are cheaper to raise than dairy cattle because they mostly eat grass.  Dairy farmers need to pay people to help them grow crops to feed their cows and they buy protein to add to the food.  This makes them cost more money.
Calves can be sold to other farmers who raise them in a penned area.  They are fed special food so that they fatten up quickly.  It takes between four to eight months before the calves are ready for the meat-packing plant.  A steer is ready to be sold when it is about one and a half years old.  Ranchers try to sell them at a time that they can get the most money for them.  The animals can be sold to someone who will fatten them up for market or right to a meat-processing plant.