Twenty years ago, Charles Fletcher of Edgewood Dairy and Creamery attended a University of Missouri Extension grazing school. It would change the future of the family dairy operation. Fletcher’s father started the dairy farm in 1966. His father milked cows by hand 365 days a year, morning and night. In 1993, the Fletcher family formed a partnership that included poultry…
Milk ⋅ Page 1
Dairy Farmer Carries on Family Tradition
Only one percent of nation’s dairy farms are run by women
The sun is setting on the well-worn path to the dairy barn where Michelle Eilenstine milks cows. She travels the familiar path twice a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There are 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. milkings. Eilenstine is part of a small group of women dairy farmers in Missouri. They are deeply passionate about what…
A Full-Time Function
Foremost Dairy relies on student workers to help with operations
Work begins at 4 a.m. each day at the Foremost Dairy Research Center in Columbia – and it doesn’t end until 9 p.m. Dairy cows need to be milked twice a day. Foremost Dairy has 210 head of cattle to milk, plus another 250 head of younger calves. That means extra help is always needed. Dairy Farm Manager John Denbigh…
The Taste of Success
Five food science students find success in dairy product evaluation competition
A group of University of Missouri students took home the gold at the 94th Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest held in September in the Chicago area. The team won first place overall in the milk division of the competition. “Anytime you come home placing first, second or third… You always feel successful,” said Rick Linhardt, coach of the dairy products evaluation team…