kids say the earnest things !

Last week on Wednesday and Thursday morning we had again the 8th graders touring the farm for career day.  Because it is for career day we talk a lot about the impact that one farm can have on the local economy. I always start my little talk by asking who want to work at a farm after high school . Usually there is one or two in each group but not a lot . But when I ask who wants to design computer programs, work with electronics, run big equipment, work in a laboratory, work as an accountant more hands come up. From there I try to explain how there is this link to agriculture and that they might up working in agriculture without ever having to put on boots and a coverall. It always amazes me how all those kids that are surrounded by farms , farmers and farm equipment never thought about it ,that somebody has to design, build, maintain all the equipment, buildings and more, that we need vets, people at the lab that check the quality of the milk and on and all.
 After the talk it was of to  tour the farm; from the feed bunk, to the little parlor to the calving area and the baby calves. It is fun to watch what effect those little baby calves have on everybody. The girl that was al worried about her clothes and was complaining how bad it smelled in the barn is all of a sudden petting the calves and taking to her friend about how cute they are. And even this  boy who cared less about this tour and all the things that I try to explain , moved up his hand true the bars to give the calf a little rub between the ears.
 From there we walk to the big parlor and it fun to see how they get interested in the milking procedure and are truly amazed when we get to the milk house where they can feel how fast we cool the milk down. We don't have milk tanks in the milk house but pump the milk directly in the truck that is parked outside.Therefore the milk has to be 34 F when it goes in the truck and it takes only a few seconds to cool down the milk from around the 100 F (body temperature of the cow) to 34 F. We use a chiller and coolers that use water. This water is recycled again as drinking water for the cow This "direct loading" is  better for the environment because you don't have to wash the bulk tank every time they are pumped empty . So you save the environment because you use lesser water and lesser propane to heat up that water.
After the tour we head back to the toolshed where there is cookies and milk and then it is back into the bus.
This year I had everybody writing down one thing that stood out for them, something good or something bad , something that they did not know before they came to visit. And after reading all those cards I know that overall I did a good job explaining what they where seeing but that some area's need improving big time. O well I have a few months before they come back again.

From all the tours we do at the farm the eight grade field trip is my favorite. And one of the groups this year was my best group ever. They listened and asked ton of good questions and where a lot of fun to be around. You parents should be proud!
At the end I want to share some of the things the kids wrote down
-I think the biggest surprise to me was that there was so many workers
-I liked the smell
-It smells really bad
-You spray cows with lotion
-I liked it how you have a big farm that is envoriment friendly
-The most expensive sign on the farm coast almost 500 000 dollars
-I did not know that you could have sheep and cows in the same farm