If you are paying close attention, I did go MIA last week. Sorry for those who were just ditting around their computer waiting for my next post, unfortunately, croup hit, and with 2 of our 4 susceptible, it makes for a fun two weeks of sleepless nights and long days. I think the end is in sight for this time, though, so I am back to blog!!
I left off on the tour--And, I have to apologize, again, because for someone who is kind of camera crazy, I neglected to make sure that my back-up battery was charged and by the time we made it to Churchill Vineyards, I had lost all power. So, I do not have pictures of the tour past Liberty Dairy...which brings me back to my report!
Welcome to Liberty Dairy, owned by the Cristoph's and their family. They were kind enough to show us around their 400 cow Jersey Dairy, based out of Fallon, and even treated us to cookies and milk afterwards!
At Liberty Dairy, they raise a large amount of heifer calves, which is more than they need as replacements and so they are able to sell enough each year to have a good business off of them, also. The Jersey cows are more efficient in terms of eating lower amounts of feed and producing higher amounts of milk for their size than other dairy breeds.
The cows are brought into the milking barn where they are entered into the computer by using the number on their eartag. This enables the dairy to keep track of a cows production, which is also a very important key in managing the health of the cows. Anytime they are off of production by 20% or more, the cow is flagged, and many times it is a sign of early health problems that can be dealt with before they become a larger problem.
Liberty uses a variety of feeds in a balanced mix. Most of the feeds are shipped by rail to Nevada and brought by semi to the dairy. This feed pictured is a bi-product of the ethanol industry--it is the corn that is left after processing and still has a lot of good nutritional value as a feed.
Another part of the mix is cotton seed, very high in fiber.
Okay, my brain is working overtime to remember what this was--and I am just not going to come up with it while I am thinking too hard about it.
Happy cows at Liberty Dairy.
Anyway, thanks to Liberty dairy for a great tour, and also to the Churchill Vineyards--It was so interesting to learn more about the vineyard and the wine production that they have started in the last decade. The have about 90 acres of European grape vines that take 3-5 years to become productive and then if they are not productive they have to start over and find something else that will work. I believe they said they have ten that are producing well now, 5 of white and 5 of red varieties. They have a great facitlity--most of their barrels and tanks come from Europe, also, because they are not prodiced in the US and because it requires such specific types to get the wine to turn out just right.
Anyway, if you want to learn more, check out their website at:
After finishing up with the tours, it was time to head back to the Museum in Fallon, where the Churchill County High School Culinary Arts class had prepared a wonderful dinner, and we started our first workshop with Dick Wittman.
Because I have already posted a lot about Dick Wittman in my National Conference '11 Report, and in preparation for state meeting, I am not going to rehash all the details, you'll just have to look for them if you want to know more about the great workshop and presentation that Dick gave on family farm management. We also had a great time getting to know Dick and enjoyed having dinner with him. You never come away from state meeting without gaining new friendships, new knowledge, and hopefully a desire to use it and share it.
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