An example of livestock farming

DAIRY FARMING

•From March-October (Depending on weather) the cows graze( eat grass) outdoors in the fields

Each cow has a “Passport” to identify it when it is being……..

•Sold

•Moved

•Killed

•Many Irish cows are a breed called friesan –they are black and white in colour

•They need to eat large amounts of high quality grass to produce milk….

Imagine………….

•One cow can produce 45 litres of milk each day…..WOW !

During winter the cows are kept indoors where they are fed silage (green grass stored under plastic)

This is what silage looks like up close

A machine places the silage mixed with grain in front of the cows

Therefore they cannot walk on their food or dirty it

•Dairy cows have to be milked twice a day-365 days of the year. – a lot of work1!

•The milking times have to be the same each day- otherwise the cows will get sick

This is very labour intensive

Here the cows are being brought in for milking

The building where the cows are milked is called

The milking parlour

•The farmer records the amount of milk given by each cow so he can keep very accurate accounts

•The cows stand in cubicles in the milking parlour. Cows are creatures of habit so they tend to stand in the same cubicle for each milking

•Everywhere must be very clean as milk is a food

•A milking machine is used by the farmer to milk the cows

•The cows spins or udder is cleaned by the farmer before placing the machine on each cow

•The milking machine sends out a pulse which takes the milk from the cow in 4-5 minutes

•While the cows are being milked a machine gives each of them a feed of highly concentrated meal

•This keeps them happy and quiet (a reward for the milk)

•The food also contains nutrients and minerals to keep them healthy a

•The milk is pumped along tubes to a stainless steel tank for storage

In the stainless steel tank•The milk is stored until it is collected

The hot milk is cooled immediately

•To keep it fresh

•To prevent the growth of bacteria and germs

Stainless steel is used as

•It will not rust

•It is easily cleaned

•It is necessary by law to use this material when producing food

All the milk records are stored by the farmer on computer

Every 3-4 days the creamery collects the milk by stainless steel bulk tanker

In the creamery the milk is

•Tested

•Pasteurized

•Bottled etc.

Bottled milk is produced quickly by machine

Which in turn is delivered quickly to shops and houses.

Remember milk is a highly perishable product

•It must be delivered quickly

•It must be kept cool

Why is milk a valuable food for humans?

Milk is used in……….