Published: April 24, 2009 01:30 pm      

Students study milk production during Farm City Week

Sister is a 12 year old Holstein milk cow who travels across the U.S. with her owner, Todd Griffin, to teach children the importance of milk and how it gets to their grocery stores.

Both Sister and Griffin of the Southwest Dairy Museum were present for North Central Texas College’s 10th annual Farm City Week during April 23-24.

Around 1,000 fourth grade students, teachers and parents from Cooke, Denton and Montague Counties attended Farm City Week.

But before they streamed into the NCTC Fieldhouse to view several informational booths from local entities, Griffin gave a milking demonstration with Sister to kick-off the event.

“The day we’re born and the day we leave this place we need milk,” said Griffin. “Your bones keep growing till ages 24-25, then you have to deal with bone density loss as you get older so it’s important to drink milk because it’s easier to take care of healthy bones than weak bones.”

Milk also helps keep teeth strong and helps our muscles work properly, added Griffin.

While it is important to get one’s recommended three servings of milk per day, Griffin also reminded the students to get plenty of exercise and at least 20 minutes of sunlight per day.

“You need sunshine, because in order for you to absorb the calcium you get from milk you need Vitamin D which is sunlight,” said Griffin.

Sister also has needs in order to produce milk. The 1,500 pound milk cow eats 100 pounds of feed everyday and drinks a bath tub full of water.

But before she can produce milk, she has to become a mama, explained Griffin. So far, Sister has had eight calves.

However, a baby calf only needs two 1/2 gallons of milk per day which leaves a lot of milk left over, explained Griffin.

“What’s left over is what we get,” he said.

So for the next 10 months after Sister has a baby calf, Griffin uses an electric milking machine to pump her milk twice a day, every 12 hours. But before the milk can be sold, it has to be pasteurized to eliminate any bacteria.

Before concluding the demonstration, Griffin reminded the students how important it is to stay healthy.

“Now three servings of milk a day doesn’t mean three servings of ice cream,” said Griffin. “There are other dairy products that are much better for you like yogurt which helps get the good bacteria in your stomach going.”

“Your body’s the most precious thing you’ll ever have until you have your own children, so you gotta take care of it,” he added.

Following the demonstration, the students were divided into groups as they visited several informational booths.

Austin Shero and Lonnie Darwin of Natural Resources Conservation Service used a rainfall simulator to show what happens to rain water as it hits the ground.

The four models demonstrated included concrete, grass, soil with no vegetation and loose soil. Out of the four, the students discovered that the best drinking water would come from ground water or water that fell to the grass.

Wayne Becker and Angel Neu with Texas AgriLife Extension Office taught the children about grain and wheat and nutrition. Valley View student Jill Walker was also present to help teach the students about nutrition.

Jim Ballard was just one of the Texas Parks and Wildlife officers present for the wildlife exhibit.

As he showed the students stuffed, wildlife animals such as a turkey, deer, albino raccoon, porcupine and rattle snake, he shared facts on each animal.

“All the animals you see up here are in your backyard,” said Ballard. “For instance, the deer is unique because they have antlers instead of horns.”

Unlike a cow who has horns and keeps those horns until old life, a deer’s antlers fall off and re-grow, Ballard explained.

Tommy Calvert and Brad Fenley of Denton County Farm Bureau gave a demonstration on the cotton gin and discussed the history of cotton.

NCTC student Ethan Fortenberry spoke with the students about horticulture or the science of plants while Keith Colteryahn of Cooke County Farm Bureau talked about beef.

The students also got to meet some livestock up close, view a couple of tractors and farm equipment and as promised by Griffin, eat some ice cream before the day was over.

To learn more about the Southwest Dairy Museum, please visit www.southwestdairyfarmers.com.