Wed 22 Oct 2008
Fair Oaks Farms
Posted by Ken Atherton under Daily Life
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Last Saturday, we drove up to Fair Oaks Farms, a dairy farm in northwest Indiana that offers daily tours of their facility. It was a very interesting trip. We learned a lot about the dairy industry, saw the barns and the milking facility and even got te see a calf born.
The entire operation is quite impressive. The dairy processes its own feed, uses the methane from the cow manure to power the facility, allows the cows to roam freely within the barns, and milks every cow three times a day on a merry-go-round system that the cows actually seem to enjoy. They get on and off at will, even going around for a second ride if they are finished giving milk.
The farm is really clean, and the methane capture operation they use to generate electricity really keeps the smell down.
Big farming operations often get a bad rap due to the assumed treatment of the animals involved and the conditions they live in, but in the scheme of things, but there would be worse places to live out your life as a cow than at this farm.
When I was reasearching the trip, I found several links to posts from other people who had been to the farm and were similarly impressed. In particular, I thought that this post (from someone who is not inclined to be pro-industrial agriculture) was insightful as well.
The kids really enjoyed the trip, especially the play area and seeing the calf being born. We’ll post some pictures and probably a scrapbook page or two in a few days.
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