HELLO BUTTERCUP — Nick Jewison, right, holds his prize cow “Buttercup” as children visiting the Mark Sommers farm southwest of Waseca learn more about dairy farming. The event, sponsored by Waseca Community Education took place on Monday, August 1. (Star Eagle photo by Jody Wynnemer)
Preschoolers get first-hand experience at a dairy farm
By JODY WYNNEMER
Staff Writer
The Waseca County Farm Bureau and Waseca Community Education coordinated “An Evening at the Farm” Monday evening, August 1. The Mark Sommers farm off of County Road 9 southwest of Waseca was the host. Pre-schoolers and their parents boarded a bus in Waseca for the short trip out to the Sommers place. While en route, Jurgen Peters, Waseca High School Agricultural Instructor Emeritus, pointed out different things about area agriculture and answered questions.
Upon arrival, attendees were split into two groups for a tour of the dairy barn and to help bottle-feed some calves. The Sommers Dairy currently milks about 58 head of cattle. Mark Sommers was asked what affect the recent heat wave has had on milk production.
“Most of the cows produce about 65 pounds of milk a day,” said Sommers. “With the heat, they were down to 42 pounds, but they are coming back now.”
Sommers explained to the group how the milk is cooled once it leaves the cow.
“A cow’s body temperature is 101 degrees,” said Sommers. “The milk travels in pipes which pass through a water-cooled system which lowers the temperature to 67 degrees. From there, it is put into the bulk tank, which is set to 38 degrees.”
Many of the kids were interested in “Buttercup,” a Brown Swiss-Holstein cross cow handled by Nick Jewison. Jewison will be showing “Buttercup” at the Minnesota State Fair in a few weeks for 4-H competition.
Several children pointed out the ear tags on the calves and wondered what they were used for. The tags can tell the birth date of the calf, who its mother is, and what immunizations have been administered to the animal.
Once the outside tours were completed, the guests were treated to information on corn and soybeans, and pizza.
“We held this event to educate families about agriculture,” said Vicky Singlestad, Promotion and Education Chair for the Waseca County Farm Bureau. “We also wanted the families to visit a farm.”
