What’s It Like to Work on a Dairy Farm?
In a special bonus episode, we meet fifth generation dairy farmer Tara Vander Dussen, who discusses the technology and innovation on her family’s farm.
Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS
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What’s It Like to Work on a Dairy Farm?
This special bonus interview is brought to you by Undeniably Dairy. For more information, visit UndeniablyDairy.org.
These days, a lot of people are interested in learning more about where their food comes from. For example, so many of us drink milk or give it to our kids every single day, but most of us have never had an opportunity to visit a working dairy farm before. In fact, I was surprised to learn that most Americans live within 100 miles of a dairy farm. So no matter where you live, chances are you have a dairy farm as a neighbor.
Joining me today to give us a peek into a typical day on a typical dairy farm is Tara Vander Dussen, a fifth generation dairy farmer. She’s also the president of United Dairy Women, an organization committed to childhood nutrition and supporting local area children’s homes. She’s played an instrumental role in that organization’s fundraising efforts, helping to raise money for children’s homes so they have daily access to milk. And in addition, she works as a trained environmental scientist on her own family dairy. She shares her story on her blog, NewMexicoMilkMaid.com.
What’s It Like to Work on a Dairy Farm?
Nutrition Diva: Welcome to the podcast, Tara.
Tara Vander Dussen: Thank you for having me!
ND: So, it sounds like dairy farming runs in the family. I’m curious—did you ever consider doing something else or have you always known that you’d be a dairy farmer, too?
TVD: So it definitely does run in my family and it’s just a part of our heritage. My husband is a fifth generation dairy farmer as well, but I did not know this is what I always wanted to do. When I went away to college, I knew I wanted to focus in environmental science. Part of me still wanted to consider going to law school and moving out of the rural America small town, and moving to the big city. I was eighteen, leaving for college and ready to explore the world. I ended up meeting my husband and we got married and I moved back to his family farm in the town that I grew up in.
Now looking back, I can’t imagine what I was thinking or wanting to do anything else. Dairy farming is such a passion for me and I love the community and the sense of family that it brings. And the culture and heritage. It is a part of my family. And now I’ve fallen in love with it all over again and I’m so happy that this is where I ended up.
ND: Well, tell us what’s going on at this time of year on a dairy farm. I think most of us have no idea what the cycle is.
TVD: So I always refer to our dairy as a dairy farm, with that “farm” on the end because not only do we run our dairy, but we also have a farm. And so at this time of year, farmers across the United States are working hard for harvest, so we’re harvesting our crops. That probably doesn’t come as a surprise to too many people, just because you think of fall as that time of harvest. So that’s exactly what all dairy farmers are doing right now, is harvesting their summer crops. And here in New Mexico, we plant two crops—a summer crop and a winter crop. So as soon as we finish our harvest, we’ll also be planting our next season of crops for the winter. So we have our day-to-day activities, caring for our cows and milking every single day. And then on top of that we’re harvesting out on tractors, in combines, and with silo trucks running everywhere, bringing in all the feed that we’re going to feed our cows for the next year.
ND: So you mention you’re out there milking every day. Where does that milk go once it leaves your farm? What’s the next step?
TVD: As you mentioned, most people live within 100 miles of a dairy farm, and that’s because we have a perishable product. So your milk usually doesn’t travel too far to get to you. For us, our milk actually goes to a cheese plant in our community, about a mile or two from our dairy farm. It’s made into lots of different kinds of cheese. The plant in our town is actually the world’s largest cheese plant, officially. And so lots and lots of cheese comes out of New Mexico, which probably surprises most people.
ND: That’s right, we think of Wisconsin.
TVD: Absolutely! Most people do. And what’s great about our cheese is that we always pair our cheese with our hot green chilies, which New Mexico is famous for. So we have some really great pepperjack that comes out of our area.
ND: You’ve already talked about some of the challenges that farmers face, namely the relentless workload, day after day, but what are some of the challenges that dairy farmers are facing these days?
TVD: You know, we have a generation of consumers that is more removed from agriculture than ever before. And I think that farmers are at a point where they really need to be able to connect and engage with our consumers and share with them what modern agriculture looks like, so that they have a better understanding of the challenges that we’re facing. I think it’s important as we continue farming into generations that are more distant from agriculture.
ND: That’s exactly why I’m so happy to have you on the podcast because you’re exactly right. Most of us don’t have an opportunity to see agriculture happening, even though we absolutely depend on it for our meals every day. I know I’ve had a chance to visit a lot of different kinds of farms, including dairy farms, and I’m always amazed at the technology and innovations I’m seeing on farms. I hadn’t realized that so much has changed in the last few decades. Are there any new innovations or technology that you’re particularly excited about, maybe things still coming down the pipeline?
TVD: Yeah, absolutely. So I think that what surprises people the most when they come out to a dairy farm is all the technology and innovation. As consumers, we have this nostalgic image of the red barn in our head from the 1940s and 1950s, but things have really changed and progressed in the last 75 years, and that’s an amazing thing. We’re using more technology than ever before. Our cow care is at the highest level that it’s ever been in our history and cow care is the absolute priority on our farm.
I can’t wait to see where we go with robotic milking machines. They’re already widely used in Europe, but they’re just making their way to the United States. The robotic feature would give the cow control of her milking schedule. I think it’ll be incredible that the cow will be in charge of when she’s milked and what time she’s milked. And I think that that’s something that’s really neat and cool and I’m excited to see where it goes.
ND: Wow, that’s an amazing development. I’m trying to picture those cows pushing a little button or ringing a little bell saying, okay! I’m ready now.
TVD: Yeah, so cows are very much creatures of habit. I actually just shared a picture on my Instagram Story yesterday of our cows lining up at their pen getting ready to go to the barn. So it is very natural for them to already know that it is time for them to go to the barn. If you’re late, they are sitting there stomping their foot at you, saying “Where are you? What’s happening?” And they know their way to the barn.
So with robotic milking, essentially, they would take themselves to the barn. Obviously there would be some care from our herdsmen in helping them, making sure everybody’s getting there. But essentially, they would be able to take themselves to the barn. And then the robotic milking machine senses them there and is able to clean their udders, and prepare their udders, and milk them, and then finish with our post-milking procedures. And then they would be able to go back to the pen and enjoy the rest of their day.
ND: That’s definitely something that I saw when I visited a dairy farm that surprised me—the cows seemed very eager to move towards the barn when it’s milking time and do seem very content to take themselves over there and get their business done, and then take themselves back to their pens. I didn’t expect to see that. I thought there’d be more herding going on, but not much is required.
TVD: No, not much is required at all. We do have one of our herdsmen that goes out and opens the gates and brings up the rear at the back of the pen to make sure everyone is heading in that direction. But really, that’s why we keep our barn as such a calm place, we try to keep minimum noise and a very relaxed atmosphere in our barn so it’s an enjoyable place for our cows to go. A lot of times in the summer, they may get a bath to cool them off. So they like going in there and having their 15 minutes in the barn to get milked. And then they get to head back to their pens to their cud. And that’s how you know that a cow is content and healthy.
ND: So, other than how relaxed the cows are, for people who never had a chance to visit a dairy farm, what might they be surprised to see, if they had a chance to visit your farm?
TVD: So we have lots of tours and people who want to come out to our dairy. People are very eager to see where their food comes from. Something that we see time and time again is how surprised people are at the amount of detail that goes into every decision we make on our farm. There’s just so much more planning than people expect. We have a nutritionist that plans our cows’ diets, and depending on what stage of life a cow is in, she has a different diet that’s planned to meet the exact nutrients the cow needs. We have a vet that comes on site to care for our adult cows. She comes out once a week. We have a vet that cares specifically for our baby cows and helps set up protocols for caring for them.
And each pen on the dairy farm can tell you a lot about the cows that are in there. If we have older cows, they tend to be in pens that are closer to the barn so they don’t have as far to walk. Our younger cows can walk for longer distances. For cows that are far along in pregnancy, we move them to what we call a “close-up” pen so we can keep a really close eye on them in their last few weeks. So there is just a lot of detail that goes into these dairies.
We have a computer program that keeps track of every single cow on our dairy and it keeps her entire record of her whole life. So if she’s moved pens, you know it. If she has ever received a medicine, the record is there with the prescription from the vet. There’s just a ton of detail and time that goes into all the different areas on our farm and people are amazed by it. They usually can’t stop asking questions once they get to a dairy. I feel like every tour lasts twice as long as it’s supposed to because people are so excited to be here.
ND: Yeah, and another thing that surprised me whenever I visit farms is the level of education and training that’s involved. Farms usually have a lot more PhD’s running around than you’d imagine.
TVD: Absolutely! Our vet is a Cornell graduate vet student. Our nutritionist has a PhD. My husband has a degree in agriculture business. My degree is in environmental science. And then from there, you’re talking about years of experience working on dairies. For our employees, we have lots of great training programs and safety trainings that they’re able to attend. We work with our local university and our extension specialist that trains our employees in animal handlings and giving medicine properly according to the vet’s instructions. The training can go on for a long time. I think that’s one of the big things that’s changed over the last decades, is the amount of education on the dairy and what people are really studying to become dairy farmers.
ND: It’s a science and an art. Tara, before I let you go, I have to say, farming is obviously not an easy way to make a living. At the beginning of the century, something like 25% of the US population was involved in agriculture and now it’s down to about 2%. So what keeps you in that 2%? What keeps you in this challenging profession?
TVD: So, as we talked about earlier a little bit, it is a part of my family heritage. I’d like to think that my great-great-great-grandfather would be extremely proud of what we’ve done with our farm and where we’ve taken it. But at the same time, we talked a lot about technology and innovation today and it can be a really challenging career, but it can be extremely exciting. And the new technology is exciting. When we talk about self-driving cars, we already have self-driving tractors. That can be very exciting for a young person that’s looking for a new career. I think getting kids back to the farm is by encouraging them through technology and innovation.
And I think another thing is what’s great about the dairy farm is there’s tons of different areas. So, my husband has a passion for cows—he loves caring for cows—and so he works directly with the cows and the herdsmen. For me, I’ve always loved our natural resources and caring for our land and our water, and so environmental science was an extremely natural fit. Both of us work on a dairy, but we rarely overlap unless I’m asking my husband about cow manure. And so I think it’s really cool that there are all these different areas you can specialize in and make a difference in.
ND: Absolutely. Well Tara, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of what I’m sure is a very busy day, just to help us understand a little bit more about who’s producing the food that we enjoy and count on every day. It’s been such a pleasure to have you on the show.
TVD: Well, thank you so much for inviting me today. I had a great time talking with you and I appreciate it.
ND: Well, I know my listeners will be very interested to hear this little slice of diary life. And to you listeners, thank you so much for listening to this special bonus episode of the Nutrition Diva podcast.
About the Author
Monica Reinagel is a board-certified licensed nutritionist, author, and the creator of one of iTunes’ most highly ranked health and fitness podcasts. Her advice is regularly featured on the TODAY show, Dr. Oz, NPR, and in the nation’s leading newspapers, magazines, and websites. Do you have a nutrition question? Call the Nutrition Diva listener line at 443-961-6206. Your question could be featured on the show.