If you work in any industry about which the public isn’t well-educated, you know that in the absence of facts, people will try to find patterns or fill-in-the-blank themselves where they have knowledge gaps. Rarely does this end in any kind of positivity.

You guys. I made the vegans real mad. I was just doing my thing, posting my videos on Facebook and YouTube, continuing to further my goal of educating humans about animal agriculture. As I usually say, I respect people’s choice to eat how they want to eat, live how they want to live, etc. I do not, nor do I wish to, actively seek out conflict with anyone who makes different choices than I do. However, that’s not always how everyone else chooses to go about life.

You just thought supply chain issues and vaccine shortages were for humans. Turns out my girls could be at risk due to a lack of vaccine supply, too. Lets say a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak took place while supply chain shortages are still in place, we could be looking at some serious issues for all livestock.

Taking calves away from their mama cow is a common practice on dairy farms. Why do we do this?

I get a lot of questions about what we feed our cows. The answer to that question is a Total Mixed Ration (TMR). A TMR is a combination of feed ingredients to make up a balanced meal to feed the cows. A TMR helps a dairy cow achieve maximum performance and health.

Dairy cows are not the same as beef cows. They should not and do not look alike. They are bred, and therefore built, differently and for their own specific purposes.

It’s important to understand cattle vaccines and why we choose to vaccinate our dairy cows. Ultimately, we want to make our cows’ lives better, safer and healthier.

Do you have kids? Ya know how one day they’ll eat their whole plate of food and the next day they won’t even touch their toast? If you think kids are unpredictable, try caring for livestock.

One day you’re getting along just fine and the next day a storm rolls in; adding challenges like the riving rising and pastures flooding.

In short, just like we cut our toenails, cows’ hooves are consistently growing and need trimmed. Basically, it’s good hygiene. We have the cows’ hooves trimmed on a regular basis to maintain welfare and to prevent lameness.

Dairy farmers are terrible and lock their cattle indoors for no reason. Right? Well, not so much.

Then why do we keep them in barns where we can control and monitor their comfort levels, ensure their nutrient-dense rations are dry and that they have access to water, brushes and clean bedding?

Because we take animal care seriously. It’d be easy to say because it’s our job and that’s why, but for us, and many farming families, it’s more than that.

As humans, it’s easy to assume what cows should or shouldn’t like based on our personal comfort preferences and impose our believes on them. I, personally, don’t like sleeping in the dirt or in mud, and if I’d never stepped foot on a dairy farm it would be easy for me to assume that cows wouldn’t like that either.

Wilsonview Dairy is a proud member of the Tillamook County Creamery Association and has been since the farm’s inception in 1912. TCCA is a farmer-owned co-op, which was formed three years before our farm when several small creameries contributed $10 each, and is headquartered in Tillamook, Oregon.

Oregon dairy farmer, Derrick Josi, discusses large dairy farms.

Farming isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. It just means that it’s impossible to see the full picture when only looking at it through the lens of a pencil and a piece of paper.

What does a dairy cow do all day? Is she forced to milk for hours on end? What’s actually happening?

Put on your seatbelt, because Derrick is spilling the tea.