Got milk?
The last time I visted Hope Acres Dairy in Brogue, PA was two-plus years ago. This dairy is unique in that it is a robotic dairy. Daughter Rebekah and three grandkids - Robby, Timmy and Shannon - were enthralled! On this visit to Baltimore I wanted to share that with George plus show him where Bill (my late husband) and I lived before we hit the road.
After a drive by our old house and a hike down Muddy Creek where we'd scattered some of Bill's ashes, we were ready for lunch and a tour. Rich, Rebekah's husband, and Bethany (Bill's daughter) and her son Benjamin joined us. We met at the Brown Cow, which includes a restaurant, gift shop and Hope Acres' delicious ice cream. Tours meet here.
After lunch, we caravanned up to the dairy for our tour. The barn is cool compared to the outside temperatures; itwas very hot and humid this day. Fans draw air through the barn. Between that and a mechanized pooper scooper, there were no flies and little odor. We watched cows scratch their necks and backs on the automatic back scratcher. And, a steady stream of cows filed into the robotic milker. Most of the cows are Jersey cows, known for their rich milk with a couple of holsteins and two red holsteins thrown in.
Each cow wears a collar with a computer chip that contains her history and the times she should be milked. Because the cows get a delicious chocolate cookie when milked, they go into the milker several times a day. If it isn't their time, the gate swings open and they leave. If it is time, the gates shut and the milking machine swings down. It first washes off their teats (pictured), then, using programmed information from the chip and lasers, it latches on to her teats.
From the inside of the milker shed, we could see the machines and the tubes that carry the milk to a container and then the tank. A computer readout tracked her progress. Before you know it, a gallon or so of milk was down the tubes, the gate swung open and another cow stepped in. Robby and Timmy found it especially fascinating and had lots of questions for our guide.
After the tour, we could turn in our wooden tour chip for a free ice cream made from milk from their own cows. Delicious!
York County, where the dairy is located, offers many factory tours. Harley Davidson, Utz and Martin's Potato Chips factories, Snyder's Pretzels are a few. During 2007 Made In America Tours celebration November 1-3 in York County, PA, more than 20 factories will be open for free tours. Other times of the year, see York County's website. Jaimie
Return to RVHometown.com
After a drive by our old house and a hike down Muddy Creek where we'd scattered some of Bill's ashes, we were ready for lunch and a tour. Rich, Rebekah's husband, and Bethany (Bill's daughter) and her son Benjamin joined us. We met at the Brown Cow, which includes a restaurant, gift shop and Hope Acres' delicious ice cream. Tours meet here.
After lunch, we caravanned up to the dairy for our tour. The barn is cool compared to the outside temperatures; itwas very hot and humid this day. Fans draw air through the barn. Between that and a mechanized pooper scooper, there were no flies and little odor. We watched cows scratch their necks and backs on the automatic back scratcher. And, a steady stream of cows filed into the robotic milker. Most of the cows are Jersey cows, known for their rich milk with a couple of holsteins and two red holsteins thrown in.
Each cow wears a collar with a computer chip that contains her history and the times she should be milked. Because the cows get a delicious chocolate cookie when milked, they go into the milker several times a day. If it isn't their time, the gate swings open and they leave. If it is time, the gates shut and the milking machine swings down. It first washes off their teats (pictured), then, using programmed information from the chip and lasers, it latches on to her teats.
From the inside of the milker shed, we could see the machines and the tubes that carry the milk to a container and then the tank. A computer readout tracked her progress. Before you know it, a gallon or so of milk was down the tubes, the gate swung open and another cow stepped in. Robby and Timmy found it especially fascinating and had lots of questions for our guide.
After the tour, we could turn in our wooden tour chip for a free ice cream made from milk from their own cows. Delicious!
York County, where the dairy is located, offers many factory tours. Harley Davidson, Utz and Martin's Potato Chips factories, Snyder's Pretzels are a few. During 2007 Made In America Tours celebration November 1-3 in York County, PA, more than 20 factories will be open for free tours. Other times of the year, see York County's website. Jaimie
Return to RVHometown.com
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