Junior Leadership Names Calf

 

“DILLY”

By Georgia Rupert, Highland High School, Junior Leadership Class of 2023

This month, the Junior Leadership students had the opportunity to learn about agriculture and business from many experienced individuals. The students visited Berry’s Blooms where they received a tour and learned about the background of the owners. The Dairy Farmers of America put on a jeopardy game for the students to learn interesting facts about agriculture. Afterwards, the students took a bus to visit the Dotterer Family Farm (RMD Dairy) where the students received a tour of the facility and learned about the new technology that has been used to create a more efficient farm. Most of the students favorite part of the day was seeing the baby cow that had recently been born and naming her. As said by Junior Ella Dulle, “my favorite part was meeting new people and visiting important companies in Medina. The program was a great opportunity that I didn’t want to miss out on.”

What surprised you the most about the visit to the dairy farm?

Ella Gillin – The robotic milker and the advanced technology that was used for milking these cows was surprising to me.

Georgia Rupert  – How the cows voluntarily go to get milked. And how much more efficient it is with the machine.

Julia Thuestad – The cow giving birth to the calf was really surprising.

Melina Ventouris – The amount of milk that’s produced.

Alex Tannehill – We got to see a cow birth.

Michael Stoll – How much care the cows actually get. I was not expecting them to want to be milked, I thought they were forced to be milked. Also, was not expecting the slim margin of profit that dairy farmers make.

Andrew Thomas – How smoothly and quickly the milking machine operated and how the cows enjoyed it.

Michael Katanic – I was surprised by the fact that the cows voluntarily get milked instead of being milked by farmers using the machine directly.