Where does your MILK come from?

   Last week I had the pleasure of going on an Agricultural Tour of Statesville and the surrounding area. We visited an array of local farms, all of which included businesses that grow and sell trees, harvest fresh crops, milk cows and ship their milk across the nation, and lastly, house hens and roosters and ship eggs out for production. The event was put on by the Chamber in conjunction with the Cooperative Extension Service and sponsored by Carolina Farm Credit. My co-worker, Val, did a great job at organizing the event - we all had a blast!

Below are the pictures from the Dairy Farm:

Baby cow, who when is grown will join the other cows to be milked. 

Two precious cows laying around at the farm in their pen.

Caught this one licking her behind!

 This one's eyes are absolutely gorgeous! 

She's sticking her tongue out at me!!!

Here begins the milking process:

The cows are somehow tricked into going into these stalls to get milked twice daily.

Then the ducts on the cow's udder are cleaned, and the milking pipes are put on so that the milk can be pumped.

The milking contraption automatically releases itself from the cow's utter and then the ducts are disinfected before the cows are sent back to the farm.  

Finally, the milk is put in a huge storing truck and shipped across the nation. Rocky Creek Dairy Farms ships their milk to different factors in order to be made into milk, ice cream, etc., sold in stores near you. 

Staring me down!

All lined up: ducks in a row! 

 This one needs a Kleenex.