The Dairy Industry (Part One)

I was surrounded by dairies in Kuna. There was one down the road from my house, one around the corner, and one practically in my back yard. There was even a small one across the street from my high school. It makes sense, considering Idaho is in the top five dairy states!

In my research I found that there’s so many aspects of the dairy industry that I couldn’t possibly fit it all into one post, so I’m splitting it in to three parts! Today I’m going to focus on the cows.

Most dairy cows (approximately 90%) in the United States are Holsteins. These are the typical white and black cows that most people know, though they can also be red and white. They are great dairy cows because they tend to produce more milk than other breeds. Other popular breeds include Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Jersey, and Milking Shorthorn.

On my Facebook feed I always see over-emotionalized videos of the “harsh” and “inhumane” treatment of dairy cows. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! In order to get quality milk the cows must be happy and healthy. It doesn’t make sense that any farmer would want to mistreat their animals. Part of keeping the cows healthy is giving them medicine when they are sick. When they are being treated with antibiotics their milk is thrown away, so there is no need to worry about antibiotics in the milk you buy at the grocery store!

Stay tuned for more dairy posts coming soon!

Benefits of Bison

Hi, guys! It has been quite the week for me. I went to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) convention in Kansas City, Missouri. I had a great time and learned lots. One of my favorite things was talking to some people from the National Bison Association (NBA). Growing up someone had a small bison herd down the road from me. I always liked looking at them, especially when they had their babies. I didn’t know much about them, though. The guys at the NBA booth told me that they are trying really hard to get more people to produce and consume bison.

Hash Browns For Days

When you’re from Idaho people expect you to know all about potatoes, especially different ways to cook them. While I probably do know more ways to cook potatoes than the average person, there are still many ways that I don’t know. One of those was hash browns.

My roommates have all had trouble making them. Rachel’s turned completely to mush, and Amy’s turned pink after she grated them, then turned grey after she cooked them. Then there’s me who had never tried. So, we decided to try and figure out the correct way to make hash browns.