Fairmont Farm & Market
Farming For Future Generations
We Love Our Cows
Learn More About Our Cows & How We Care For Them
We are constantly working to improve our herd genetics by using the best bulls in the country. We also have a few matriarch families that have played an instrumental role in our herd development. We are focused on producing a herd of modern dairy cows with an emphasis on traits that will keep our cows in our herd for longer. These traits include, good feet and legs, good health, good reproduction, and good milk production with high fat and protein percentages. Todays technology allows us to match our cows with bulls that will compliment them in these areas, so our herd is enhanced with each new generation.
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A Comfy Cow....
Is A Happy Cow
One thing we take utmost pride in, is our focus on cow health and comfort! Our cows are bedded with sand bedding which keeps them cool and clean.
Sand Bedding is important for many reasons, mainly its cleanliness compared to straw or sawdust, as well as the benefits it offers on joint health (think the difference in how your back or hips feel after lying on a bed that molds to you vs a harder surface). Our goal is to have our cows be able to lay down in a dry and comfortable stall during periods of rest.
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Fun Fact: Did you know that cows require 12-14 hours of rest each day?
Healthy Diets
Our cows eat a ration specially created for them by our Farm Nutritionist.
Their ration is about 60% forages that we produce from our cropping enterprise, and our grain is purchased through a local feed company.
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As a result, our cows produce 90 pounds of milk per cow per day, that is about 10.5 gallons of milk.
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Fun Fact: Did you know that cows spend 3-5 hours a day eating?
Jersey's at Fairmont Farm
We milk a handful of Jerseys and have a small percentage of Jersey and Jersey/Holstein crosses that are in our youngstock program and will become part of our herd.
Jersey’s produce less milk than Holsteins but have higher milk fat and milk protein percentages (components).
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Farmers are paid for their milk based on the pounds of butter fat and milk protein that are sold. Jersey's have the potential to be more efficient, due to their smaller stature (requiring less feed) and higher component milk.