Milk from Rowdy Cow Creamery

Thanks to the cows at our farm, we bottled delicious whole milk today in white, chocolate, root beer and buttermilk. It's available at local stores in Geauga County, Ohio.

Friendly #6582 just finished milking

Rowdy Cow milk in root beer, white, chocolate, & buttermilk

Some of the girls in the milking parlor

Click here for a list of stores that carry Rowdy Cow Creamery milk.

Vanessa being milked

Whole milk is the original protein drink! It's nutrient dense naturally containing calcium, potassium, protein, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin and niacin. Milk is convenient, satisfying and filling as a snack or with a meal. So drink up!

Milking Parlor Improvements

Dairy farms depend on a variety of equipment, most of which is used every day. One building on our farm that is full of essential equipment is the milking parlor where the cows are milked. It’s important to keep this facility and equipment in good working condition.

We recently had new take-offs installed in the milking parlor. These take-offs are important because they enable the milking machine to detach from the cow’s udder when she’s done milking. When the flow of milk from the cow slows, that sends a signal to a sensor in the milking machine indicating the cow is done milking. Then the automatic take-offs remove the milking machine from the udder. Each cow milks at her own pace, one might take 4 minutes while her herd mate could take 6 minutes. New take-offs allow us to meet the specific need of each individual cow.

The old take-off equipment is removed and the new ones are installed

The new take-off equipment is behind the silver panels with red lights

This new equipment has multiple benefits, it’s good for:

* Cows - ensuring maximum cow comfort and udder health when milking because the machine isn’t on the cow a second longer than it needs to be.

* Environment – this new equipment requires less water for cleaning.

* Staff - new equipment makes it easier on the staff milking cows.

Over the last few months, we’ve made some other improvements in the milking parlor. The floor heating system was repaired allowing warm water to circulate in the concrete flooring where the cows stand while milking. This system keeps the facility warmer for the cows and staff in the winter.

This concrete floor is heated for the comfort of the cows and staff

Light fixtures and bulbs were replaced because good lighting is important. This might seem like a small task, but it’s very difficult because the light fixtures in the milking parlor are about 25 feet above a solid concrete floor.

The bright lights shine in the milking parlor

All of these improvements and repairs must be done when there are no cows being milked, which makes these tasks more challenging. Cows are milked on our farm around the clock, with a one-hour break every seven hours to provide time to clean the facility and sanitize equipment. So these tasks must work around the milking schedule.

Improvements like these are made to maintain cow comfort and a good work environment. It’s worth it because the animals and people on our farm are vital to its success.

Spring Tours on the Farm

Spring marks the beginning of tour season on our farm. The last two weeks we’ve been working to get everything ready for visitors. Over the last week, we’ve hosted six groups at our dairy. It’s fun to watch people interact with our animals.

A bus in front of our barn

Preschool children watching the cows being milked

A Kindergarten class in the milking parlor

Watching the cows milking from the viewing balcony in our barn

The kids watch the tractor and manure tanker drive off to the field

They love helping feed the animals

Our animals like the attention

Teachers getting a tour of our barn

Making a friend

Is it ok if I scratch your nose?

Hello sweet calf, nice to meet you!

Boys checking out where the calves food and water is kept

Playing in the sandbox under our shade tree

A beautiful day to ride a seesaw

Fun on the tire mountain

Katie from Geauga Soil & Water teaches a "Soil to Spoon" seminar

If you're interested in visiting our farm, we have two events coming up that are open to the public:
Spring Dairy Season Opener
Sunday, May 19 from 1:00-5:00pm @ $6/person (2 & under free)
Take a guided tour of the milking parlor, wagon ride through the barn, pet the calves, play in the corn box, run around on our outdoor farm-themed playground and learn about where milk comes from. Fun for the entire family!

Cow Tales Adventures (for children 5 & under w/ caregiver)
Tuesday, May 21 from 10:00am-12:00pm @ $6/person (12 months & under free)
This farm adventure allows young children and caregivers to tour the farm, make a cow craft, play in the indoor play area and have a dairy snack. Plan to arrive by 10am and be at the farm until 12pm to take part in all of the activities.

Check out the Hastings Dairy website for details.

We look forward to many more visitors this year!

Fall Farm Fun

Fall is a wonderful time of year in Northeast Ohio. Beautiful fall colors, cooler days, and harvest make it a great time to be on the farm. I've captured some fall scenes from our dairy. . . .

Our family; Garrett (10), me, Jack (7) and Lad. . . .

 Jack and Garrett checking the corn. . . .

Corn harvest. . . .

Lad checking the rye grass planted after the corn was harvested. . . .

Curious cows walking down the lane. . . .

One of our pretty Red & White Holsteins relaxing in her bed. . . .

 The calf pen. . . .

Jack busy at work while one of our farm cats watches him. . . .

Two of our favorite farm cats. . . .

Garrett cleaning up the tractor in preparation for visitors to our dairy. . . .

Jack helps prep the pedal tractors for "Tractor Fun Day" . . .

We hosted several Special Events at our dairy this fall. Here are some memories from these events.

People liked exploring the real tractors and riding pedal tractors. . . .

Feeding a calf at "Dairy Farmer for a Day". . . .

Fun with calves at Cow Tales Adventure . . . .

Watching the cows being milked. . . .

A hayride on a cloudy fall day. . . .

The hayride stops in the freestall barn for time to talk and answer questions. . . .

All this activity wore Jack out!

Fall is the gift we get each year before winter so we're cherishing every moment!