At the Farm Gate: Dairy Defines Days, Life Moments
My day starts with Greek yogurt, fresh berries and a dash of Cheerios on top. It sometimes ends with the same or the richness of milk-based oatmeal.
Cottage cheese mixed with firm, sweet red grapes made it in my tractor lunch box almost daily this spring. And my fridge always holds fresh-shredded cheese, sour cream, and a variety of milks, from skim to whole (plus the occasional chocolate) to satisfy the household extremes — and my husband in between.
June represents the month to raise an ice-cold glass of milk in salute to dairy farmers as we celebrate National Dairy Month and dairy as a long-time staple of the American diet. Less than a 0.5% of the American population today raises the dairy cows that produce milk to feed the 99.5% of us Americans who don’t own them.
More than 96% of those dairy farms are family owned and represent some of the most-committed farm families who rely on technology or hired help to get a break. Dairy cows need milking two to three times a day, regardless of holidays, weekends and vacation schedules. Thankfully, advancements in technology provide labor flexibility on some dairy farms where robots milk cows and automated systems deliver feed.
Families also have enhanced cow comfort over the years from better bedding for joint health to barn-mounted brushes that give backrubs. Some farmers even use collars similar to a human Fitbit or Apple Watch to track individual cow activity on their phones.
Yogurt may kick off my day, but dairy does for coffee shop drinkers, too. Around 90% of coffee-based café beverages are prepared with dairy products, according to the Perfect Daily Grind. This June throughout Illinois, watch for Farm Bureau presence at coffee shops, as the organization brings awareness to the dairy that dominates lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and more.
While coffee is not my thing, I empathize with the craving. I’ll watch flavor schedules for local ice cream shops and travel 15 to 30 minutes one way for the treat on a pleasant summer evening.
Dairy defines some of life’s most-cherished memories: The summer-night ice cream runs. The cheese ball we make only at Christmas time. The homemade ice cream at family birthday parties. Fresh whipped cream for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.
And I can taste and feel the milk-logged Oreos I’d soak in a cup of milk as a snack after school as a kid.
About the author: Joanie Stiers farms with her family in Knox County, where they raise corn, soybeans, hay, beef cattle, backyard chickens and farmkids.