I was provided the opportunity to visit this farm through a campaign with Blended Extended. All opinions are my own. #blendedconf #AZMilk
If you follow me on social media, you may have seen random pictures of cows a few days ago. My kiddos and I had the privilege to visit a local dairy farm here in the Phoenix area. If you're anything like me, you may be very surprised to hear they have farms in the middle of the desert. The first time Brian and I flew out here from the East coast, we flew into Sky Harbor in Phoenix and drove a rental car to Brian's mom's house in California. Brian is familiar with desert life since he's spent most of his life in this area. However, I was shocked at how "green" the desert really is!
Of course, desert living comes with its own set of challenges ... water being a big one! We don't get a lot of rain here in the Sonoran desert! When I think of farms, I think of lush green pastures with livestock. I think of rolling farmland with produce as far as the eye can see. Until recently, I never realized how many dairy farms (or farms, period!) are in Arizona .... over 100 dairy farms!! Who would have guessed?! To be honest, when I think of farming and cattle, Arizona is not one of the first states that comes to mind.
When we were given the chance to visit the Kerr family's dairy farm, I couldn't wait to see the entire milk process on the farm! As a food blogger and a mom, I am always curious where our food comes from. I often wonder what steps are taken to ensure food safety.
We were lucky enough to see a brand new baby on our visit. This little guy was only a few minutes old when I snapped this picture! I know he's kind of hard to see in the shadow - sorry about that! Did you know pregnant cows have nutritionists that help create healthy eating plans for them?! We also learned that the number on the tags tells the farmer when the cows were born! If you look at the top picture (it's easier to see) - you can see that this calf was born October 9th!
The kiddos got a kick out of watching the cows .... and they tried to figure out which ones were boys and which ones were girls. Uh, yeah. That's how we roll. A quick explanation of the difference between cows and bulls and we were on our way over to see the milking process.
We made a quick stop in the milking area. We kind of were at the back of the group, so I missed some of what was said here. We did hear that 40 cows can be milked at a time. The cows know the routine so well, that when the farm workers are late getting them into being milked, they let them know with their mooing!
We enjoyed lunch with the Kerr Family while they answered our many questions about the dairy farm life and milk processing. I would encourage you if you have the opportunity to take a tour at a local farm, to do it. My two littlest milk drinkers loved seeing the cows and they have been talking about the visit to the farm since! Abby likes to tell me that she knows where milk comes from and then asks me if I remember the cows. She also has to inform me of what the farm smelled like .... it smelled like a farm, of course! ;)
If you would like to see more about Arizona milk, visit the Dairy Council of Arizona's website!
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If you follow me on social media, you may have seen random pictures of cows a few days ago. My kiddos and I had the privilege to visit a local dairy farm here in the Phoenix area. If you're anything like me, you may be very surprised to hear they have farms in the middle of the desert. The first time Brian and I flew out here from the East coast, we flew into Sky Harbor in Phoenix and drove a rental car to Brian's mom's house in California. Brian is familiar with desert life since he's spent most of his life in this area. However, I was shocked at how "green" the desert really is!
Of course, desert living comes with its own set of challenges ... water being a big one! We don't get a lot of rain here in the Sonoran desert! When I think of farms, I think of lush green pastures with livestock. I think of rolling farmland with produce as far as the eye can see. Until recently, I never realized how many dairy farms (or farms, period!) are in Arizona .... over 100 dairy farms!! Who would have guessed?! To be honest, when I think of farming and cattle, Arizona is not one of the first states that comes to mind.
When we were given the chance to visit the Kerr family's dairy farm, I couldn't wait to see the entire milk process on the farm! As a food blogger and a mom, I am always curious where our food comes from. I often wonder what steps are taken to ensure food safety.
We were lucky enough to see a brand new baby on our visit. This little guy was only a few minutes old when I snapped this picture! I know he's kind of hard to see in the shadow - sorry about that! Did you know pregnant cows have nutritionists that help create healthy eating plans for them?! We also learned that the number on the tags tells the farmer when the cows were born! If you look at the top picture (it's easier to see) - you can see that this calf was born October 9th!
The kiddos got a kick out of watching the cows .... and they tried to figure out which ones were boys and which ones were girls. Uh, yeah. That's how we roll. A quick explanation of the difference between cows and bulls and we were on our way over to see the milking process.
We made a quick stop in the milking area. We kind of were at the back of the group, so I missed some of what was said here. We did hear that 40 cows can be milked at a time. The cows know the routine so well, that when the farm workers are late getting them into being milked, they let them know with their mooing!
We enjoyed lunch with the Kerr Family while they answered our many questions about the dairy farm life and milk processing. I would encourage you if you have the opportunity to take a tour at a local farm, to do it. My two littlest milk drinkers loved seeing the cows and they have been talking about the visit to the farm since! Abby likes to tell me that she knows where milk comes from and then asks me if I remember the cows. She also has to inform me of what the farm smelled like .... it smelled like a farm, of course! ;)
If you would like to see more about Arizona milk, visit the Dairy Council of Arizona's website!
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