It's coming up to five minutes to six here on 3M00 and it looks like another beautiful
day in Gippsland as we roll into... Good morning honey, how's my favorite cow? Come on,
let's go and do some milking. Hello, my name's Honey and I'm a dairy cow. I'll be showing you
around our farm, what we do, what we produce. This is a dairy farm and the cows here make milk,
which they will very soon be giving to Jeff, the dairy farmer. Let's follow him and see what
happens during a day in the life of a dairy farmer. All these cows produce lots of milk
and are called Holstein Friesians. I'm not though, I'm a Jersey cow, but we're all dairy cattle and
we're very different from beef cattle, which are bred for their meat. If you want to live long,
you're much better off being a dairy cow. Jeff has to milk the cows twice a day all year round
in this milking shed. Jeff can milk a lot more cows than his grandfather could because he has
a milking machine. His grandfather milked each cow by hand into a bucket. This dairy is very
modern and is called a rotary dairy. The milk comes from the four teats in each cow's udder,
which have to be cleaned before they're hooked up to the machine. The machine gently squeezes the
milk out of each teat. All the milk then goes to a vat where it is kept very cold until it's
collected later on. Now, before he can have breakfast, Jeff has to clean the milking machine
and the rest of the dairy. You see, although we cows are pretty clever when it comes to making
milk, when it comes to being toilet trained, forget it. So how is all this milk made? Well,
Angela's mother makes her milk out of the food she eats and the water she drinks, and so do cows.
Milk is what we cows feed our babies, but humans like to drink it too. But cows eat mainly grass,
and to turn grass into milk, we need four special stomachs. We eat really quickly and the grass goes
straight to the first and second stomachs where it becomes softer. Later on, little balls of this
grass called cuds return to our mouths and we chew each cud for another minute. And then it's off
to the third and fourth stomachs for more digestion. Finally, some of the goodness we get from the grass
goes to our udders where it's made into milk. Pretty nifty, eh? The farmer can't have my milk
at the moment because it's needed by my own calf. Hi girls. Calves only stay with their mothers for
a short while. They're soon taught to drink milk from a bucket and eventually to eat grain, hay and
grass. These calves are females, but they won't join the milking herd until they've grown up and
had their own calves. If you want your calves to stay healthy and everything to run smoothly,
there's a lot to do. Preparing fences, preparing the paddocks for planting,
maintaining the machinery, making hay and making sure that we don't get sick.
And then guess what? In the late afternoon, Jeff has to milk the herd again.
The milk is picked up by a refrigerated tanker. The driver tests each farm's milk for quality
and freshness before pumping it into his truck. But the milk is not quite ready yet for you humans.
At the factory, it's heated up so that it will stay fresh longer. This is called pasteurization.
The milk is now ready to be packaged. Milk also contains cream. Do you know about all the things
you can make from milk and cream? Like butter, for instance. That's made by whipping cream really
quickly until it forms a solid lump. Cheese, yogurt and ice cream are also made from milk.
All dairy products are full of goodness, containing calcium for strong bones and teeth,
and lots of other minerals and vitamins to help you keep fit and healthy.
And what did you do at school today, Angela? We had to write a story about what our parents
do for a living and why they do it. But I'm not sure why you're a dairy farmer.
Well, I suppose it's because I like working with animals and producing milk that's beneficial for
Australia and like working outside and perhaps being my own boss. It means hard work and long
hours though, not just in the milk and shed or the fields, but also when I'm planning what has to
be done the next day or next month or next year, because farmers are really business people as
well. It's a good job I've got that computer though. So you really do like being a dairy farmer,
Dad? Yeah, it's harder times, but it's a life for me. Good night, Swout. Good night, Dad.
Good night, Swout. Good night, Dad.
Chewing the grass to my heart's content, keeping the blowflies away. The farmer and me have a routine,
starting at dawn every day, then on to the milking machine. That's when I joyfully say,
moo moo. Roaming the countryside free, watching the rest of the world go by. This is the lifestyle
for me. Watching the rest of the world go by. This is the lifestyle for me.