Illinois Farm Families Blog

I’ve missed 114 milkings….in a row.  We knew this was coming, but counting them up just now makes me feel incredibly inadequate, and sad.  You see, I miss the cows.  I miss the smells (good and bad).  I miss talking to the cows.  I miss their mannerisms.  I miss knowing who is milking well, who is sick, and who calved.  I miss the schedule of it all.  I miss working with Brent.
Having a baby changes life.  Many people have laughed & giggled at me, when I tried to say, oh, they’ll just come along – I can still work.  This was true all throughout pregnancy.  I milked cows the night we went to the hospital, but now – someone else sets the schedule.  
There are benefits.  The house is fairly clean, I’m caught up on laundry, the farm books are up to date, and I’m able to prepare a real supper nearly every night.  A real supper – a main dish, vegetable, even the occasional dessert.  We still eat in the living room, but this is a good 1st step.  And, yes, I get to spend nearly all my time with our daughter. 
It’s November – the time of being thankful.  So, I’m thankful: 
For Family – those that are spending more hours in a barn, so I can spend more time with the newest member of our family
For Friends – those that come and help with milkings, and those that watch the baby while I go for X-rays
For Weather – that is fairly cooperative so that the harvest can be completed, and all the chores can get done, and allows for some excursions out around the farm
For Inspiration – Join us for 30 days: mycowsandpigs.blogspot.com, My Generation
For the Future – a beautiful, healthy baby girl that we can teach about farming, and will be milking cows with us soon.
This is why we farm!
Carrie Pollard Po-Cop Dairy Rockford, Ill.

Let’s keep with cow’s milk (my favorite kind)!  First, “Vitamin D” milk is whole milk.  People think that whole milk is bad for you because it has all that fat in it, right?  Wrong!  Whole milk has a whopping fat content of 3.5% (the average fat content of milk right from the cow).  Look through your frig & pantry, and I bet you’d be hard pressed to find a lot of foods under 4% fat.  If you like the taste of whole milk, as dairy farmers, we thank you, but if not, you have lots of other options.  Reduced-fat milk (that being either 2%, 1%, or skim, 0%, fat) offers you the same nutrients with a little of the cream scraped off the top.  A good friend of mind once said, “Carrie, I’m desperately trying to drink the Vitamin D milk, because I know I need the Vitamin D, but I just can’t stand the taste!”  She was worried about maintaining her bone density, as should many young women, especially those who are busy professionals that don’t get a chance to sit down for supper with a glass of milk every night.  I had a giggle, as I told her ALL milk, whether it be chocolate or strawberry, whole, 2% or skim, has all the same vitamins and minerals (A, D, calcium and so on) in each glass!  

When an animal is sick, it is my responsibility to care for it.  Sometimes, the best way for me to do this is to use an antibiotic.  However, that animal product (be it milk, meat or eggs) is removed or withheld from the food supply until that antibiotic has cleared the animal’s body.  All milk is tested for antibiotics on the farm and at the processing plant. Any milk that tests positive for antibiotics cannot be sold to the public and is discarded. I won’t give anything to my animals that I do not feel is safe for them, my family, and yours.  Furthermore, all mammals (that includes you, me, as well as the cows and pigs) produce hormones in our bodies.  It is part of how our bodies work.  That means that things that come from those bodies will contain hormones.  They are broken down by our body, just like other things we eat.  Just remember to keep things in perspective, vegetables contain hormones too.

So, whatever your fancy, you will always get a nutritious, good-for-you glass no matter what jug it is out of.  The pick at our house is “Mixed Milk”, a white skim and chocolate (1 or 2%) mix, served alongside pork tenderloin!  

Carrie Pollard
Po-Cop Dairy
Rockford, Illinois

Visit Carrie's blog at http://www.mycowsandpigs.blogspot.com/

 We walked thru the cattle and were surprised at how they (weighing on average 900-1,000 lbs) were afraid of us moms. We learned that those that come to the farm together, always stay together. The Martz family has spent a lot of time and money investing in the items to make their farm work efficiently while making sure that their cattle are well taken care of. They demonstrated an ultrasound machine which could show how much marbling a cow had and how much they needed to eat in the future to reach their potential weight. One of the most interesting things to me on this farm was the lack of flies, I saw maybe 2 flies the whole time we were there. Mrs. Martz told us that they have wasps delivered weekly which eat the fly larvae, thus controlling the flies without the use of pesticides.  They had a lot of pride in their farm and assured us that they are eating what they produce and would not harm their family.  We rode in the combine that was equipped with GPS, TV, WiFi and a multitude of gadgets that helped the plant and harvest the farm. I learned so much from this family and know that they are truly doing what they love.

 After a quick lunch stop at a 100 year old restaurant we headed on to our 2nd farm for the day. We arrived at Lindale Holsteins just as it was time for the cows to be milked and boy were they ready. We made a quick stop to look at the calves. They were absolutely adorable and you could tell that these were Linda’s babies, she had little stories about each of them. They were quite curious and wanted constant contact with us, I think most of us kept getting licked by them as we walked by.  We made our way to watch the cows be milked. (150 cows, milked twice a day). We asked tons of questions, about the quality of milk, where it goes once it leaves the farm and about hormones.  Our questions were answered openly and honestly even their veterinarian stopped by to chime in on the concern with hormones.  They went on to say that they drink their own milk and that we all have to make our own choice as to whether we feel we need to drink milk that was not treated with hormones.  

 I needed clarification from Linda Drendel on the hormones and below is a little more info she provided:

 *1. Cows naturally produce BST, a growth hormone that stimulates milk production. Therefore, any glass of milk has BST. A scientist nor a consumer can tell the difference between a glass of milk with BST and one without rBST. There are NO definitive studies that show harmful effects from rBST milk.

*2. NOT every cow in our herd (or any herd) is given rBST. She must be in good physical condition and be in good health. She first receives rBST 90 -100 days into her lactation; the dose is mere mls compared to her weight of 1500 pounds plus it is given once every two weeks and it continues to the end of her lactation.

*3. About it being a choice to make: We agree; however, it is NOT a choice between a healthy, safe glass of milk without rBST and one with rBST incorrectly assuming it is not as safe, healthy. It is a choice between paying a higher price (usually if not always) for organic. Also it can be said that virtually all milk (organic or not) is labeled as rBST free.

 The milk is picked by a truck which then goes on to pick up milk from a few more farms. This milk is then taken to the coop and sold. When we asked which milk is “better” from namebrand  Vit D to store brand Vit D, we were told that the milk is probably exactly the same, just marketed differently.  We ended our visit Lindale Farms with chocolate milk, cookies and ice cream, a delicious treat after a long day.  

 Visiting the farms was an amazing experience. I feel like I am armed with more knowledge about farming and the process from farm to table and can now answer questions for family and friends.  The farmers are passionate about what they do and it shows in how they operate their farms.  

 Each day, I remember something that I learned on the farm and happily share it with my kids. They love the fact that farming doesn’t feel so foreign anymore.

 Angel Ishmael
Chicago, Illinois

Lynn and Mike both operate separate areas of the farm. Lynn works the grain side and Mike works the cattle side but they both have to work together. How cyclical the whole process of farming is was surprising to me. I like knowing that farmers use all of their resources to the best of their ability, nothing is wasted. I was impressed by their love of their farm and the people and animals that live there. I won't look at my food in the same way ever again!

 The Drendel family’s dairy farm

 Ahhh Milk! My family drinks about 6 gallons of milk a week, so seeing just where it comes from was insightful and interesting. Learning about cows and calves and their lot in life was a little unsettling for me. Being a Mom to six kids, I felt a certain affinity for the cows and the fact that they are never allowed to nurse their calves was somewhat sad. I am intelligent enough to know that the cows are there for a reason and it isn't to raise a “family.”

 Once I got over that fact, I did manage to learn about milk production. I got to see the stages of a cow's life, the calves, the “teenagers” and the adult females. When it was time for milking, the cows knew where to go and were willing participants in the milking process. We were allowed into the parlor and got to watch the cows being hooked up to the machines for milking. We even got to stick our thumbs inside the milking machine to feel exactly what the cow feels. Once again, the technology used in farming is amazing. We learned what pasteurization means and homogenization is. When asked about skim milk, Dale chuckled and gave us the lowdown on 1%, 2%, and whole milk 3.5%! We were able to ask about anything we saw.

 The Drendels had their veterinarian on hand to answer the question about hormones in the milk. I believe he answered the question intelligently and honestly. I know, for myself, I believe that milk is milk. Whether grain fed, grass fed, organic, or not, the dairy farmer cares about the welfare of their cows. They are their livelihood and they treat the cows like family. The Drendel’s farm was well run and Dale, Linda, and their daughter Julie were welcoming and open to answering all of our questions. My family will continue to do their part in consuming milk!

 Amy Rossi
Naperville, Illinois

We now live on Brent’s family dairy farm outside Rockford, where Brent farms full-time with his parents, milking 70 Holstein cows, and farming 600 acres of corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. Beyond helping on the farm when I can, I also work full-time for Bethany Animal Hospital, where I get to use my passion for pigs by helping pork producers across northern Illinois improve their farms.

I am excited to share with you where your food comes from, and hope you’ll ask us (those of us who spend each and every day raising food for your tables) all of the questions you have about where food comes from, and how it is grown. On this blog, there is no such thing as a stupid question! 

So, the other day, I called Brent while he was at the neighbor's to ask him to bring home a cup of milk for a recipe I was making for supper that night, as we were all out.  He laughingly replied, "You know we do have cows on our farm." We do have a dairy farm, with our own milk, but I still buy milk at the grocery store just like all of you. Why, you may ask?  We simply don’t like the taste of whole milk. Another reason is homogenization, the process of putting milk in solution, so that the cream does not rise to the top. This is simply a matter of preference, as Brent doesn't like the creamy stuff – and I have always had store-bought milk, so I don't know the difference!

I buy whatever milk happens to be on sale. I don't worry whether the milk comes from Holsteins or Jerseys, or whether it was produced on a farm with 16 cows or 16,000; I know that it is safe, full of essential vitamins and nutrients, and produced by farm families that care about their animals, just like the milk that is down the hill in our own bulk tank.

 So, I will remember to go to the store tomorrow to buy my own gallon (or two) of milk, and Pour One More! Read more about the day to day happenings at the Pollard Farm.

Carrie Pollard
Po-Cop Dairy
Rockford, Ill.