Discovering the Dairy at SwissLane Farms in Michigan

By on March 21, 2012 in ag awareness, agriculture

When I found out that I would get to go to Michigan for the Young Farmers & Ranchers Conference, I was immediately jazzed as I knew friends Annie & Jerry Link lived outside of Grand Rapids. They had invited me to visit her family’s dairy farm. Here’s an overview of what I saw. I will share more later about the milking barn, the new high tech center and maple syrup! You can read ahead at the Dairy Discovery blog for SwissLane Farms or on Dairy Discovery’s website!

The Farm

SwissLane Farms in MI home to the Oesch family

SwissLane Farms in MI home to the Oesch family

Some of the cows having a snack

Some of the cows having a snack

Maternity

Annie monitoring a cow ready to deliver

Annie monitoring a cow ready to deliver

The cow nearing delivery is in a special maternity pen

The cow nearing delivery is in a special maternity pen

Nursery

a calf that needed time in the nursery

a calf that needed time in the nursery

Annie & Jenna show me a nursery barn

Annie & Jenna show me a nursery barn

I love the look of white calves

I love the look of white calves

checking the medical records

checking the medical records

Dairy Discovery

(This is the center the family built to host school tours, etc.)

the Dairy Discovery center at SwissLane Farms

the Dairy Discovery center at SwissLane Farms

That's me Janice Person in Dairy Discovery

That's me Janice Person in Dairy Discovery

 

About Janice Person

I'm Janice & this blog is about my passions -- photography, travel, agriculture & whatever else comes to mind. Putting all those things together is intriguing to me…. I can spend a lot of time soaking it up! Its almost always a colorful adventure!
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6 Responses to Discovering the Dairy at SwissLane Farms in Michigan

  1. Susi March 21, 2012 at 9:40 am #

    Love the pictures. We go to the maternity ward at the local county fair every year. And even though we haven’t seen a calf being born we’ve seen some right after delivery with the cords still attached and nursing. Amazing. :)

    Reply
  2. Robyn March 21, 2012 at 10:43 am #

    I find big dairy operations fascinating.

    I took and advanced placement class in college. Our semester project and the basis for the class was to build a virtual 1,000 head dairy. There were 6-7 of us in the class and we toured many dairies in the area, did extensive research and did a presentation to the community. Many that attended our presentation were dairy farmers that had moved here from Holland.

    Thanks for sharing your tour, JP

    Reply
  3. Stacey at RealWorldMom (Linky) March 21, 2012 at 5:57 pm #

    The white calf is adorable! Great shots! Happy WW!

    Reply
  4. jessica @peekababy March 22, 2012 at 11:19 pm #

    Those cows are ridiculously adorable…especially the one with her tongue hanging out! check out my ww http://peekababyny.com/newyork/post-1100/

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. VIDEO: How To Make Maple Syrup & Other Breakfast Ideas | A Colorful Adventure - March 24, 2012

    [...] Most of us laugh a bit when Will Ferrell’s character in “Elf” proclaims maple syrup as one of the four food groups. But then again, most people think syrup is a required part of breakfast involving pancakes, waffles or French toast. And even though I knew the difference between some of the syrup used and maple syrup, and even though I knew maple syrup came from trees, I loved seeing how maple syrup is made during a brief trip to SwissLane Farms, near Grand Rapids, Michigan in February. Here are some of my photos from my second dairy farm visit! [...]
  2. What You May Have Missed in the Past Week | a colorful adventure - March 25, 2012

    [...] Most of us laugh a bit when Will Ferrell’s character in “Elf” proclaims maple syrup as one of the four food groups. But then again, most people think syrup is a required part of breakfast involving pancakes, waffles or French toast. And even though I knew the difference between some of the syrup used and maple syrup, and even though I knew maple syrup came from trees, I loved seeing how maple syrup is made during a brief trip to SwissLane Farms, near Grand Rapids, Michigan in February. Here are some of my photos from my second dairy farm visit! [...]

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