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Dairy Month History — The Industry And Personally

Before I could write about June being Dairy Month I had to find out about its history. The information that I provide here came from the site of the International Dairy Food Association. That is the location the Internet took me to when I Googled June Dairy Month.

National Milk Month began in 1937 to promote the drinking of milk. Production of milk was at a surplus and the dairy industry was looking for more markets. The National Dairy Council changed the name to National Dairy Month to emphasize the fact that dairy is more than just milk.

Dairy products contain nine essential ingredients to help manage weight, reduce the risk of high blood pressure, and protect against osteoporosis. The protein it contains helps build and repair muscle tissue. Vitamin A helps maintain healthy skin.

According to records passed down for generations the making of cheese goes back 4,000 years. The Romans introduced cheese-making to England. At that time cheese was mostly made by the monks in the monasteries.

Cheese was brought to this country on the Mayflower. It remained a local farm business until 1851 when Jesse Williams built the first cheese factory in Oneida.

Swiss immigrants helped move the cheese industry to Wisconsin. The first factory in Wisconsin made Limburger cheese. Currently more than one-third of the milk produced is made into cheese in factories throughout the nation.

My life has been wrapped up with dairy for years. My mother and her sister spent many years working for a locally owned dairy. Even at that time June was known as Dairy Month. The drivers ran specials for their best customers. Often there was a premium involved with the purchase of a dairy product. Sometimes the special ran with cottage cheese. Sometimes it ran with a gallon of milk.

To this day I have a set of metal glasses that we received as a premium. The glasses really came in handy when the children were small. I assigned each guest a color for the day. They rinsed and refilled as often as they liked all day long.

The year I graduated from college the dairy employed me for the summer. By that time my mother had moved on to working at a brewery. My aunt still worked there so she picked me up for work every day.

We were allowed samples. My favorite thing to sample was chocolate milk. It was made to USDA specifications for distribution to schools. At that time it was whole milk (4 percent fat) mixed with chocolate.

When I visited the dairy as a youngster I liked to watch the bottling process. My vantage point was a window located above the bottling room. They tested each load of milk as it came in before any processing began. I remember seeing small tubes of milk in a back room each day.

Little did I know then that my family would be part of the production team. Although a thoroughly city-raised girl, I met and married a dairy farmer. I learned about that end of the business from my husband and my in-laws.

Often as we enjoyed late coffee around Grandma’s kitchen table my father-in-law talked about growing up on the farm that was at the end of the road. His mother made butter which he took to the city to sell each weekend. He also sold farm raised vegetables/fruits, and eggs when they were available. My son has a little store on his farm and people wonder why he does not always have everything in stock. It is simply supply and demand. Sometimes the animals do not produce enough to sell.

Eventually I became a farm columnist covering a variety of farm events. I also visited many farms and compiled features for the farm paper. When the grandchildren were small they often accompanied me on my travels. As it turned out I knew more of the area farmers than my husband did. He was too busy at home keeping the farm running.

I was also the farm bookkeeper. Often I had to guess about some of the expenditures when my husband took the checkbook but forget to enter the amount of the purchase. I either had to wait for the statement to come to reconcile the account or find a receipt in his pocket before the pants went into the wash. After years of this I finally persuaded my husband to order duplicate checks for all of our accounts.

I also became adept at doing the farm income tax. I assure you that February was not my favorite time of the year. Farm taxes were due long before personal taxes were. If I ran into a problem with the taxes I would have to call the IRS office. Sorry to say they seldom had an answer to my question. They told me to do the tax the best way I thought.

During our daughter’s senior year she was the Warren County Dairy Princess. Since she still did not have a license I drove her when there was a promotion scheduled. We went to farm meetings, grocery stores, and schools. Dairying was in her blood. She was a natural at dairy promotion because she was a devoted milk drinker.

She has now shared her love of dairying with her children. Both of them have been involved in dairy 4-H for many years. My granddaughter is a whiz at clipping animals. Her attention to details really pays off. She has clipped cows for area farmers for the past two years preparing for the annual dairy sale. Now she heads off to college. She thinks biology is to be her career.

Ann writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.

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