Jaidalyn

Jaidalyn Roorda

Mr. De Groot

English 6

February 28, 2024

Dairy Farming Changed

Dairy farming has changed a lot over the years. They have fed the cows different feed since 2012. There have also been changes in the number of cows. The dairy barns have also changed over the years. Back then the dairy barns were small, but they weren’t tiny. Some people did have big dairy barns. Now they have more tools to build dairy barns. The barns now can fit way more cows and have more room. 

From 1807 to 2012, dairy cows on the dairy farms tripled. For example, there were nearly 50,000 dairy farms that had fewer than 100 cows in 2012. California led the county, with 1.8 million milk cows at the end of 2012. The number of farms with milk cows declined 8 percent in that time. For example, from 69,890 farms in 2007 to 64,098 farms in 2012. Farms specializing in dairy cattle and milk production declined even more, from 57,318 farms in 2007 to 46,005 farms in 2012. 

Also, in Iowa the growth in dairy operation herd size has been slow since 2006. The most common breed on dairy operations is Holstein. In addition to all this, on the Roorda Dairy in 2012 there were about 3,500 cows. There were 61 cows in 1992 to 144 in 2012. Some people feed their cows sawdust. On the Roorda Dairy we feed hay or corn silage.  They milked the cows a little.  It was much like today. Most dairy farms had admitted milking systems. They did not have robots in 2012. The original milking machine was a person. They milked cows by hand a long time ago. It takes a long time if a farmer has a lot of cows, which can take all day. This system had many problems. It was very hard to keep the milk cool. The cans would not get properly clean. They also feed the calves just like they do today. They put the milk into a plastic bottle and put a nipple on it and they feed into the calves.

In summary, there are lots of things. There were lots of dairy cows on a farm back then. It was not a lot different in 2012 then in 2024. Nowadays we have more technology than they did in 2012. 

                                                                           Works Cited 

Donald Mac M. James. “ Milk Production continues shifting to Large-Scale Farms,” Economic Research Service, USDA.https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2014/december/milk-production-continues-shifting-to-large-scale-farms/#:~:text=In%202012%2C%20there%20are%20 still`,to%201%2C807%20farms%20in%202012. Accessed on 6 March, 2024.

Timms, LL. “2012 Iowa Dairy Farm Survey,” Iowa New Farms Project, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report, 2013. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/dairyteam/files/documents/Iowa%20Dairy%20Survey%202012%20Animal%20Industry%20report.pdf. Accessed on 5 March, 2024.

Living History Farms. “Livestock Dairy,” Living History Farms, Living History Farms, 2024.https://www.lhf.org/learning-fields/livestock/dairy/#:~:text=The%20header%20is%20 divided%20into, Accessed on 20 March, 2024.