Although I won't be posting everyday, I decided to title this week about the Adventures of the Dairy Club. This week is our Spring Break from college, but 23 members of the Dairy Club, along with 3 chaperon's, have ventured out to visit various attractions along the Eastern States from New York to Virginia and then back up again.
We started today by leaving, with snow all around, from the Morrisville Dairy Complex, and headed towards Pennsylvania. After 6 hours of driving we arrived at our first destination, Mason Dixon Farms. This farm, located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, prides itself on "innovation through technology." This is because they have recognized that change is inevitable, but success optional. They have been farming partly in Pennsylvania and partly in Maryland since they bought the original farm in 1784. The original homestead is still on the location, and the current facilities have just expanded and evolved around it. The current facility houses 2400 milk cows and 2000 replacement heifers. They also have a crop base of 2900 acres, all within a 3.4 mile radius from the farm. The most interesting thing, I thought, about the farm was that they currently have 20 robotic milkers, along with a double 24 parallel parlor on the farmstead. The owners have designed the barns for enhanced ventilation and cow comfort in mind. They have also made innovative advancements in silage harvesting and storage.
The final destination for today, was Trans-Ova Genetics in Sharpsburg, Maryland. At this facility they specialize in embryo transfer and invitro fertilization of elite female cattle. Trans-Ova has been in business for 20 plus years, but they had not obtained the facilities in Maryland until 6 years ago. The main headquarters are located in Iowa, but they also have facilities in Texas. Trans-Ova is priding themselves on being ahead of the game in ET and IVF work. While donor cows are at the facilities in Maryland, they can be milked in the 12 stall step up tie stall parlor. They are expanding the operation and will have many job opportunities available in the near future for people in all areas of bovine related.
We hope to learn lots from this experience and have already begun developing ideas. We have learned about navigation skills, as our direction reading skills are sometimes lacking. At the end of the day, it's not the destination, but the adventure on the way that makes the difference and the biggest lessons to be learned.
