Of Cows and Comfort
I was milking the other morning, following the same routine that follow every morning. Chick, a 4 year old jersey, was next in line. I got down on my knees and was about to hook the milker up when she lifted her rear leg closest to me and held out away from her. I looked at her head, and she was staring into my eyes with her big dark ones. I smiled and set the milker down in the bedding. I knew what she needed. I reached up and began scratching her, between her leg and her udder. She closed her eyes, stretched out neck and began rolling her head one way and then the other. When I finished she looked back as if to thank me, I put the milker on and moved on to next cow. I got to thinking about the “dairy magazine” that I had read the day before. Its one of those big ag rags that comes to your house whether you want it or not. 3/4’s of the articles were about “cow comfort”. By all acounts it would look like the factory farmers are very concered about cow comfort. The problem is, they only want to do things that fit into the confinement system. This is how people seemingly obsesed with cow comfort, have herds that lose most cows by the time they are 3. Matresses, ruber mats, fans and misters can never replace dirt and grass. They certainly can’t replace a scratch when a cow has an itch. This is the biggy. Losing the intimacy a small farmer has with his herd costs the industrailist years of potential cow life. At our place the most average age of cow when she dies is almost 10. Many of you rememeber when I lost Elsie, she was 14. The average age of a dairy cow will not increase intil the average herd size decreases and the girls are back grazing green grass and the farmer knows her name and the name of her great grandma. While it all seems so simple, most people have put themselves in a box that they can’t even think about crawling out of.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I was told by my Mom that my Uncle, who has a very large dairy herd in MN, milks around the clock! How can that be possible? They were told by a loan officer that they needed to increase their operation in order to qualify for another loan — so they did. The next time they went to get a loan the guy gave them 3 years to turn the farm around or lose everything. My Uncle is in his 70’s and can never retire, since they are always on the verge of bankruptcy. What a sad state of affairs.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:02 am
The firm, loving touch of man’s hand, as it acts in accordance with God’s Word by His grace, is the primary tool of dominion in rightly stewarding God’s creation. We were created as the Lord’s husbandmen to care for the creation and it was created to be stewarded by man as he fully submits to His Creator. I find this so true when I see Sam and Sadie relate to the touch of my hand, both in scratching those long hairy ears and in exercising discipline.
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
An excellent example of why the industrialized model does not work. Proverbs 12:10 “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel”. We need more righteous farmers.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:54 am
I loved your post. Our Buttercup, stands and stares at you when she wants something. I love to try and figure out what it is. I have always milked the goats, but not the cows. This year, when they calve, I am the cow milker as well. I am a bit nervous.