Manager Dairy Interview Preparation Guide

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Working in the morning. I get up at 2:30am to feed cows and get things rolling. I have the whole world to myself!

Ice cream! Favorite flavor? Chocolate almond.

Cattle, pigs, chickens, and bees. The cattle are baldy Angus. The pigs are various heritage breeds. The bees are Italian honey bees.

No, the milkhouse to parlor door must be tight fitting and solid. It can be double acting, but it must be self-closing, and it must be solid.

Strainer pads, parchment papers, gaskets, and similar single service articles are stored in a suitable container or cabinet and protected against contamination and in a location convenient to their use.

Yes, if you have an open-ended parlor. If your parlor only has three walls, with the holding pen opening into the cowyard, the holding pen is considered part of the parlor. The parlor must be cleaned after each milking. If doors at the end of the parlor area are kept shut, the area outside the parlor is considered to be a part of the cowyard. The cowyard must be maintained to control fly breeding and prevent the soiling of the cows' udders and flanks.

Bovine somatotropin (bST) is a hormone that occurs naturally in all cows. Its physiological function is to help young cattle grow, and adult cows to produce milk. A small amount of bST is naturally present in all milk, including organic milk.

A synthesized copy of bST – recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) – is available for farmers who choose to use the hormone as a farm management tool to boost their herd’s milk production. Health authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined that milk from cows treated with rbST is both nutritious and safe.

On the farm we have a lot of different things cows can eat. The following are a few of the feeds that we have on the dairy.

· Corn Silage, (chopped and fermented corn)

· Oats Silage, (chopped and fermented oats)

· Alfalfa Hay

· Cottonseed, (the seed from growing cotton)

· Almond Hulls, (the outside shell of an almond)

· Distillers Grain, (leftovers from the ethanol plant)

· Brewers Grain , (the mash from beer making)

The main food cows eat is silage, which is chopped oats or corn. When we harvest corn or oats, we chop it into very fine pieces, and put it into a large pile. The pile ferments so it will stay good all year.

Animals eat, therefore they produce manure. Manure has an odor. Dairy farmers work hard to minimize these odors by maintaining clean facilities, following proper manure storage practices, and properly applying manure as a natural fertilizer for cropland.

In some cases, farms are required to implement an odor management plan. Research and development has inspired new practices and innovative technologies to help farmers maintain clean air for everyone. Dairy farmers care about air quality; their families live and work on their farms and breathe the air, too.

Dairy farming is something I have wanted to do as long as I can remember. I love being my own boss, working with the cows, planting and harvesting the crops, and working outside. (Except, of course, when its minus 20 degrees with a wicked wind!)