Fair Oaks Dairy Farm Adventure

Today, the family and I plus the homeschool group went to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm in Fair Oaks, IN for a field trip. It is one of the largest dairy farms in the United States. It is a 20,000 acre farm (or farms to be more exact) that milk 32,000 cows 3 times a day at 9 different locations!

Inside the lobby of the visitors center.

These were the buses that took us on our 45 minute tour of the farm.

Calf hutches. The babies are moved to these outdoor hutches within a matter of a couple of days after they are born. One of the most exciting parts of the day was being able to witness a birth of a calf. They have a special "observation" building that was like an arena with stadium seating. They had 2 cows that were in labor behind glass. Outside the building they had a stoplight and when the stoplight was red, it meant that neither of the cows were close to delivering, yellow meant the cow was almost ready to deliver, and green meant that a birth was in progress. When we entered the birthing barn, everyone was warned to be very quiet and not to move around much because the cows could see us through the glass and it made them nervous. Within about 15 minutes of sitting down, one of the cows gave birth. It was very interesting, and not as messy as I expected it to be. She had a boy! :)
Milking carousel. They milk 77 cows at a time on this moving circular "conveyor belt". They milk 3,000 cows at this particular location. I was fascinated by how the cows are such creatures of habit and will move onto and off of the carousel without any prompting from the men who work the milking machines.
On the bus tour. These buildings are the dry milk barn, where the cows who are pregnant and taking a break from milking for a few months until their new calf is born are kept, the maternity ward, where cows who are giving birth, and about to give birth are kept, and also the cow barn where the cows that are being milked are kept. Also, the 4 large tower-like things is a system they have where they recycle the manure into usable methane gas for energy (the electricity it produces runs the farm), and the manure solids are processed into a "top soil" type product that they spread on the fields for fertilizer.

More cow barns.

The last pictures are part of the interactive program they had inside the visitor center/museum.


At the end of the 3 hour adventure, I came away with a lot of mixed emotions. I told Scott on the ride home that it was very interesting, but that I felt a little sad because it seemed just like a factory to me. "Assembly-line" production.

The cows are in no way mistreated. They were very healthy, they were well fed, not mistreated in any way....yet, I feel sorry for them. From the moment they are born, they are treated almost as a piece of equipment. They are born, and the mom immediately begins to lick them and clean them out of instinct, as God intended them to do. But instead of being able to bond with their mother's and nurse, they are immediately taken away. The colostrum that the mother produces for their calf to build immunity is pumped out and the calf is fed it by bottle. If the calf happens to be a boy, they have no use for it, and it is sold off within 2 days of birth. (Probably to become veal as one of the tour guides told me.) If it is a girl, it is shipped out of state (to Colorado) to growing farms (I think that's what they are called) until they are 2 years old. Then they are shipped back to Fair Oaks, already 7 months pregnant. Then, the cows give birth to a calf a year for the next 8 years, with only 3 months of "rest" from milking. When they are 8 years old, they are then sold to be made into hamburger for the fast food industry.

As I said, they are well cared for...but, what kind of life do they have? A short life. A life of barns and concrete, and traveling cross country on semi trucks or trains, and never getting to spend time grazing or walking in grass. It seems sad to me.

I understand the need for producing a lot of milk to feed the people of this country, but my soft heart was really saddened. It especially struck me after I witnessed the calves birth and saw the mother, who had worked so hard to deliver her baby, turn and start to lick him; and realize that as soon as the baby was on its feet it would be taken away from her.....and made into veal cutlets. I know that animals do not have the same emotions as humans do about their offspring, and within a matter of days she will forget all about him, but it is still a difficult thing for me to accept. It's just not natural!

All in all, it really was a nice place to visit, and I would highly recommend it. But, if you have a soft spot in your heart for animals, as I do, you may come away a little sad.