We give a lot of farm tours every year. From restaurant owners, to cheese makers, to people in other industries, to dairy farmers from other countries, we enjoy sharing our farm with people from all different types of backgrounds. For the past 20 years, I’ve pretty much stuck to the same routine for all of our tours.
The route I take on the tours hasn’t changed much over the years, but now with the robotic milkers installed, we have something completely new to show our guests. The robots are still new and exciting for all of us here at the farm, so it’s a lot of fun for me to explain. It’s cutting-edge technology, and we’re very proud to be an innovative farm in the area that can show this new technology and advancement in the dairy industry.
One of the things tour guests tend to be the most surprised about is how quiet the barns are. They look around and see a very calm and comfortable environment — cows laying in their waterbeds, eating at their “buffet,” or walking up to the robot to be milked.
On a lot of the tours, one of the favorite stops is the maternity pen. Every once in a while, people can see a cow give birth to a calf, and it’s always the highlight of the tour when that happens!
