This past weekend was RJ’s annual reunion with his classmates from university. Over the past 23 years we have visited many farms across Southern Ontario to catch up with good friends from school. This year we were lucky enough to visit a dairy farm outside Guelph that is owned by Farmer Tim. When I saw his two herds of cattle grazing peacefully on each side of the lane way when we pulled into his farm, I knew I was going to have an incredible photo opportunity to share.
Farmer Tim owns and operates one of Canada’s 11,000 dairy farms. His devotion to the welfare of his 40 dairy cows was immediately apparent as he animatedly explained to me the pedigree, personality quirks and names for all his cows as we walked through the milking barn. His cows know and thrive under their structured daily routine which consists of one morning milking, loads of food, quite a few naps while hanging out with their buddies in the pasture, one evening milking and then bedtime. Sounds like what I look forward to in retirement!
Education about dairy farming is one Farmer Tim’s greatest passions. His patience with all of us invading his barn while he was doing his evening milking was much appreciated. He took the time to show us step by step what he was doing and why. I even had a chance to try milking a cow myself!
Farmer Tim’s cows each yield about 40 litres of milk per day. The milk is piped to a huge holding tank and picked up every other day. I won’t even attempt to explain all of the complex factors and rigorous quality standards that are involved in safely collecting and storing the milk as I’m sure I would get something wrong. Instead I will leave that for the expert! I encourage you to visit his very active Facebook page and learn all about his dairy farm in his own words. “Farmer Tim”
Farmer Tim owns and operates one of Canada’s 11,000 dairy farms. His devotion to the welfare of his 40 dairy cows was immediately apparent as he animatedly explained to me the pedigree, personality quirks and names for all his cows as we walked through the milking barn. His cows know and thrive under their structured daily routine which consists of one morning milking, loads of food, quite a few naps while hanging out with their buddies in the pasture, one evening milking and then bedtime. Sounds like what I look forward to in retirement!
Education about dairy farming is one Farmer Tim’s greatest passions. His patience with all of us invading his barn while he was doing his evening milking was much appreciated. He took the time to show us step by step what he was doing and why. I even had a chance to try milking a cow myself!
Farmer Tim’s cows each yield about 40 litres of milk per day. The milk is piped to a huge holding tank and picked up every other day. I won’t even attempt to explain all of the complex factors and rigorous quality standards that are involved in safely collecting and storing the milk as I’m sure I would get something wrong. Instead I will leave that for the expert! I encourage you to visit his very active Facebook page and learn all about his dairy farm in his own words. “Farmer Tim”
