July 11, 2021 - Baby Cows at the Creamery!

The early morning wake up we had today at Stensland Creamery was worth it. We (me, me … me) had the best day so far. One of the owners from the creamery gave the two of us a private tour. The tour began where the milk and cream are processed and then we were lead to the calf nursery. BABY COWS!!! Baby cows everywhere! I was so super excited. Not sure but I could have been jumping up and down a bit! And trying to hide it with my ‘Ranch Hand’ t-shirt on. (Stupid Tourist) 

After I (me, me … me!!!) finished taking pictures and petting baby cows Tim and I were taken to watch the milking process. 

OMG … wow … mesmerized … woah …huh … it does what … really? So as we discovered technology has come a very, very long way from the days of hand milking. The creamery has three robotic milking system machines. These machines are laser guided and self serve so to speak. 

The cows walk up through the back of the milking station and because they wear a necklace with a monitor, kinda like a FitBit, the computer already knows the last time she was milked and if she has any deficiencies in her milk. The computer can also determine if she is ready to be milked again. If she is not ready the front gate releases her and off she goes. If she is ready to be milked the computer keeps her. Begins giving her sweet feed all the while the laser guided robotic milker begins washing her teats. Lines her up to the stats for this cow, latches them all in and begins milking. Milking real fast. I’m just amazed at how fast. 

Then as soon as she is done the machine releases the teats, gives her a quick rinse and lets her out the front gate at the same time another cow is already walking in the back gate looking for sweet feed. And we hear they have water beds to lay on to keep them cool and not stressed in warm weather. We did not see these beds but hopefully on our return we can swing back by to get a peak.  

These three robotic machines run 24/7 milking 170+ cows. No one herds them into the milking stations. The cows just swing by to see if they can get a sweet treat. It’s just so amazing to watch. 

The creamery turned out to be a very memorable visit. We will hook up with them again if we return in that direction. They are a four generation family run business. The commitment they have to their products and quality says a lot. They have decided to make better what they have instead of growing the herd. Not only are they making good products, educating along the way but they are an integral part of their community processing a needed good. 

Our current location has found us at Custer State Park in South Dakota. The current mileage from home is 1,962 miles and we are sitting at a 5,270’ elevation. Weather was about 86* with a light breeze on our arrival. And with no humidity it’s very comfortable compared to the steamy hot weather of Florida that we left. The low tonight will be 59*. This will be a much needed stop. We will be here for about a week. Tomorrow we have no plans and will be content to sit at camp and just chill. 

I’ll post pictures of our campsite here in Custer, South Dakota on tomorrow’s blog.