After being exposed to years of cute commercials portraying the benefits of milk and cheese provided by "happy cows", many Americans continue to hold a somewhat unrealistic idea about most dairy cattle breeds. For...
In part one, we examined many of the common ideals and beliefs about the modern dairy cow, and exposed some of the reasons why these strong, intelligent animals are not being used...
Farming, especially in a small family farm situation, is often a solitary business. Even when the farm is able to support the entire family without employment off the farm, the amount of...
Modern cattle retain many of the instincts that have allowed their species to survive throughout history. When kept in a herd situation and handled only minimally for basic care, cattle will naturally...
Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein once commented, “Specialization is for insects.” When it comes to cattle, though, humans have tended to develop specialized cattle: beef or dairy. At one time, however, the...
Farming requires a major investment of not only time and money, but also power. For many modern farmers, this power is provided by mechanical means, usually in the form of trucks or...
When families set out to build a farm or homestead, the decision to add a dairy animal is often included in the process as a way to provide a source of fresh...
Farming can be a job where you may not see anyone else for the whole day. Those small farm chores seem to multiply and pretty soon it's getting dark and you still...
Another facet of a carefully selected, properly trained working cow is her ability to use her natural traits and instincts to assist the farmer with mowing, clearing brush and pruning unwanted vegetation. Given...
If you have ever looked closely at a stable piece of nature — a place where the land is untended — but the plants and animals thrive — and seen the balance that...
Farming is not always represented fairly in today's media. Accusations are made that farm animals are bad for the environment, and guilty of everything from destroying vegetation and compacting soil to expelling...
For centuries animal training experts have put forth the idea that animals learn by rote, which is essentially a memorization technique based on repetition. By repeating each action in the same sequence...
If you have a small farm or homestead with livestock, you probably already understand the value of the animals who share it with you. Many of these are probably working animals who...
As Americans continue to distance themselves from the farming lifestyle of a century ago, it becomes increasingly difficult for most to imagine the bovine species as anything more than a source for...