hickchic05
Member
oops spelled dairy wrong in the subject!!! haha.....anyone live or work on a dairy farm!?!?
diary farm
- Thread starter hickchic05
- Start date
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rockinmywaypa
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2003
- Messages
- 615
- Tractor
- john deere 3130, universal case 970 and a IH 1086
I worked for a dairy equipment dealer for a number of years. Seen my share of farms, Installed anything that was needed from one end of the cow to the other. Built some pretty impressive express parlors with basements etc. Don't miss the hours involved, now I have a job in which I know what time I'am off work at end of shift. That's where I learned to tig stainless to a food grade standard. The last place you'd want pitted surfaces is inside a milk line.
riptides
Super Member
I live on one. But it is not a working farm anymore. Has not been since 1934 or so. Back then it was one of the finest in the region. So one of the original owners said. And if you look closely, you can still see the glory days in it.
Anyway, it is undergoing, restoration as we speak. Right now my attention is on the farm house itself. Once that is done we will turn to the outbuildings and barn. I think I posted a pic of the barn somewhere. Look here ->
As you can see I have some painting to do.
The original milk house is still here too, with all the pumps and plumbing, and a few stainless steel vats. The barn still has the original metal for holding and feeding the cows, too.
Not sure what to do with that stuff.
I have a silo too. Maybe I will convert it to a rock climbing wall or a telescope. Not kidding on either of those ideas. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I am hoping to get the neighbors to help me hay it this year while we turn our attention to the buildings.
The place is special, we need to figure out how to bring it back.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Anyway, it is undergoing, restoration as we speak. Right now my attention is on the farm house itself. Once that is done we will turn to the outbuildings and barn. I think I posted a pic of the barn somewhere. Look here ->
As you can see I have some painting to do.
The original milk house is still here too, with all the pumps and plumbing, and a few stainless steel vats. The barn still has the original metal for holding and feeding the cows, too.
Not sure what to do with that stuff.
I have a silo too. Maybe I will convert it to a rock climbing wall or a telescope. Not kidding on either of those ideas. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I am hoping to get the neighbors to help me hay it this year while we turn our attention to the buildings.
The place is special, we need to figure out how to bring it back.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
kensfarm
Veteran Member
My farm use to be a dairy farm too. My neighbor is a dairy farmer.. I've helped him hay, ban young bull calves, dehorn(not fun), load manure, feed calves, haul off & compost dead cows, chase cows, work on equipment, last couple of weekends we ground & bagged 14 tons of corn for feed. I've purchased all 13 of my Holstein steers from him that I've raised from bottle calves. I told him one day we should hang out and do something besides work.. but there is always more to do!
hickchik05,
Welcome to TBN.
I don't live on a dairy farm now, but was born and raised on one many moons ago (1960's and 70's).
A great place to live and grow up.
A tidbit about the farm I grew up on.
Some of our more senior members may remember a company called "Larkin Soap Co.". The company was huge until the 1930's. The farm I grew up on was their show farm where farmers brought holsteins in from all over the country for show.
Welcome to TBN.
I don't live on a dairy farm now, but was born and raised on one many moons ago (1960's and 70's).
A great place to live and grow up.
A tidbit about the farm I grew up on.
Some of our more senior members may remember a company called "Larkin Soap Co.". The company was huge until the 1930's. The farm I grew up on was their show farm where farmers brought holsteins in from all over the country for show.
JDgreen227
Super Member
We reside on 11 acres that has the buildings of what used to be a working dairy farm back from the mid 1930's to about 1960. The original owners of the farm had about 200 acres and at the peak of their business they cared for about 40 cows. The majority of the land was used to grow hay and feed and the dairy barn and milk house are still standing, along with a silo.
There was a larger barn used to house the farm machines but it was destroyed in a windstorm back in the late 1980's after I first moved here. According to the local historian, when the people first began their dairy operation, the residence was a huge two story brick house with a fieldstone foundation. It burnt to the ground back in 1948, and the owners did not have any insurance to rebuild another large house. They constructed a kit house of 900 square feet just in front of the ruins...and when we had the back yard excavated for an addition in mid-2002, guess what came out of the hole?
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The dairy business gradually faded after 1960 and the owners sold everything in a huge auction late in that decade. Most of the farmland was parceled out to be bought by other farms in the area. The only actual proof that this used to be a working dairy farm is the two glass milk bottles that share a place of honor in my home office:
E.L. RIKER'S
DAIRY
BATH
The bottles are very rare and frightfully expensive to buy if you can even find one. There are so many times I wish I could go back to the years the dairy was in operation to see what it was like.
There was a larger barn used to house the farm machines but it was destroyed in a windstorm back in the late 1980's after I first moved here. According to the local historian, when the people first began their dairy operation, the residence was a huge two story brick house with a fieldstone foundation. It burnt to the ground back in 1948, and the owners did not have any insurance to rebuild another large house. They constructed a kit house of 900 square feet just in front of the ruins...and when we had the back yard excavated for an addition in mid-2002, guess what came out of the hole?
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The dairy business gradually faded after 1960 and the owners sold everything in a huge auction late in that decade. Most of the farmland was parceled out to be bought by other farms in the area. The only actual proof that this used to be a working dairy farm is the two glass milk bottles that share a place of honor in my home office:
E.L. RIKER'S
DAIRY
BATH
The bottles are very rare and frightfully expensive to buy if you can even find one. There are so many times I wish I could go back to the years the dairy was in operation to see what it was like.
OP
hickchic05
Member
Yeah, I live on a dairy farm that my parents own and operate. We have about 175 acres that we live on, but probably about 500 total that we rent and farm. We milk about 200 cows and but have about 50 dry and about 50 calves...however someone else raises our calves for us from about 6 months to a year at that other farm we have about 100 heifers. I will probably be going to Virginia Tech in the fall to learn more about dairy farming so I will eventually be able to take over the farm w/ my older brother.
kensfarm
Veteran Member
What part of Maryland are you from? Virginia Tech is a very nice shool.. I have several friends go there. It is nicer to be away from home but close.. but if you get a scholarship at those other schools farther away.. it would be hard to turn it down.. college cost have skyrocketed.
OP
hickchic05
Member
That's exactly how I feel!!!! Thank God for the in state for VT though.....and I love it there..I visited and absolutely loves it...it's out in the country they got there own little farm goin on there...the Dairy Science is like their own little community with in a big school...gorgeous campus!! wow i love it!!! ...I have to go visit all the schools in Kentucky still....I don't like that it's not w/in a 6 hour drive...VT is like 4 which aint too bad cause I'm away but still can drive home... I'm from Brunswick, MD.....like 15 min. from Frederick, MD or Charles Town, WV
kensfarm
Veteran Member
Yep.. you're just on the other side of Frederick. Have you had any luck w/ any scholarships for ag?
