lifestyle
Learning on the Farm
“Old McDonald had a dairy farm” and the Mom It Forward team along with members of our community spent a fall morning learning and exploring Pappy’s Farm located in Ogden, Utah. We learned about the farm life from the owner of Pappy’s Farm – Harry Papageorge.
Learning On the Farm
Cow's Diet
Just as humans work hard to maintain a healthy diet filled with vital vitamins and minerals, the nutrition of a dairy cow is closely monitored. Between the farmer and his nutritionist, the diet of a lactating cow is delicate balance. The wrong diet can result in milk that results in a discarded bowel of breakfast cereal.
The diet of a cow includes both forage and grains. Forage is composed of plant materials that make up hay and fermented forage which is termed as silage. The cows at Pappy’s Farm enjoy corn silage that is scented like apples. Molasses is another ingredient in the forage as it keeps the feed compact ensuring that even the picky cows get all their nutrition. At Pappy’s Farm, the forage and hay fed to a single cow comes to about $7 per day. Now times that by 150 mouths.
Personality
Pappy’s Farm has two types of dairy cows: Jerseys (typically brown) and Holsteins which are the ones that are black and white. The stereotypical dairy cow. Owners of any pets will tell you that their dog or cat has its own personality – sweet angel or troublemaking puppy.
- Holsteins have a more easygoing temperament which is why the dairy farm typically has more Holsteins than Jerseys. These cows can weigh up to 1,500 pounds and produce the most milk.
- Jerseys are rather stubborn cows that enjoy causing trouble for their farmers. Combine their curiosity and troublemaking ways and you’ve got a cow that will frequently try to escape their pens. These cows also produce less milk though it contains more fat and protein.
Our time spent at Pappy’s Farm with the Dairy Council of Utah & Nevada was filled with many ‘moos’, a few barks, and delicious flavored milk that comes in the following flavors and can be purchase at the Gossner Foods factory store located in Logan, UT
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Chocolate
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Root beer Cookies and cream
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Vanilla
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Strawberry
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Banana
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Orange cream
What's your favorite milk flavor?
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