April 18, 2024

Local 4-H’ers tour dairy farm

Hailey Walter of Douglas Boosters 4-H club is shown trying her hand at milking a cow during SPecial INterest tour at the Milk Unlimited dairy farm in Atlantic. (Contributed photo)

Union County 4-H’ers got to experience dairy on a large scale as they toured the Milk Unlimited dairy farm in Atlantic.

As part of Union County’s 4-H SPecial INterest (SPIN) program, the youth visited the farm and saw firsthand where milk comes from and how dairy cattle are raised. SPIN began in September and ended with this dairy farm tour.

“The SPIN program is meant to spark an interest in something new for the 4-H’er,” said Haley Jones, Union County youth and outreach coordinator. “Each month a different event, workshop or tour was planned for the 4-H’ers.”

Christy Cunningham, one of the owners and managers of Milk Unlimited gave the youths a tour of the dairy farm, including the milking parlor, freestall barn and feed storage.

Milk Unlimited milks 3,000 Holsteins three times a day in a double 30 parallel parlor. The milk from the dairy is shipped daily to Anderson Erickson in Des Moines.

“This SPIN event tied in nicely with the fact that June is nationally recognized as June Dairy Month,” Jones said. “There are currently no dairy farms in Union County and therefore no dairy show at the county fair for 4-H’ers, so I thought it would be neat to give the 4-H’ers an opportunity to experience a dairy farm in southwest Iowa.”

The bus transportation was sponsored by the local Friends of 4-H foundation while Bob Beatty, head of transportation for Creston Schools and 4-H enthusiast, was the bus driver.

For more information about the Union County 4-H program, check out the website at www.extension.iastate.edu/union and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/unioncounty4hia.