Spring keeps making tiny appearances, followed by another winter storm here in NE Iowa. Before you know it we'll be busy with fieldwork and cheese curd production, so full steam ahead with all of the winter projects we had planned for 2023.

If you follow us on our social media pages, you may have seen a post about our updated walls in the milking parlor. They needed to be replaced after years of cows bumping into them. Not only did they not look good, but they were getting difficult to clean, which made them really not look good. Now the walls are new, shiny and clean!

You're going to love this recipe! It's quick, easy and perfect for celebrating St. Patrick's Day or kicking off March Madness.

This time of year things slow down a bit at the farm and creamery. As we patiently wait for spring to truly show up (Mother Nature likes to tease us with a few fake springs around here...) there is plenty to keep us busy.

We love sharing our dairy story! Sometimes, it's easy to forget that not everyone grew up on a farm and knows all these cool facts, so here you go... 15 facts to impress your friends with!

1. A dairy cow gives birth to her first calf when she is around 2 years old.

2. An average cow weighs around 1200 pounds (Holstein's can weigh up to 1500!)

3. A Holstein calf weighs around 90 pounds at birth.

4. Dairy cows will eat 120 pounds of feed a day while producing milk.

5. A cow spends 8 hours a day chewing, somewhere around 50 times a minute!

A dairy cow is just a cow right? Well kind of but, did you know there are seven different dairy cow breeds found in the United States? Let's introduce you!

Holstein
The most popular breed found in the United States and probably the most recognized. These cows are black and white, tall and weigh 1,200-1,500 pounds when fully mature. Holsteins are prized for their milk production, at peak milk production they will produce around 23,000 pounds of milk a year. That equals out to about nine pounds of milk a day! On our farms, Holsteins make up the majority of the cows we have.

Butter coffee has been around for thousands of years, the first evidence of it being consumed was during the ninth century in Ethiopia. More recently, adding butter to coffee has been taken up by fitness enthusiasts and those on ketogenic diets.

It's that time of year again, when we look back on all the beautiful and challenging times of the past year. Here's some of our favorite memories from 2022.

We are proud to handcraft fresh cheese curds and cheddar cheese every week in our creamery. A lot of attention is paid to the way we handle and process our milk into all of the cheesy goodness that we produce. From the farm to the finished product here’s a few fun cheese facts you can share over the appetizer table this holiday!

This weekend we invited Santa and our Christmas Calves up to the creamery! Snowflake and Irene took a ride in the back of the suburban to get here. The snowy weather was perfect and I'm sure made Santa's sleigh ride here much more enjoyable.

Coffee with Karen is a daily occurrence on the farm for us. Karen is a 6 year old Jersey cow who came to our farm about 4 years ago and instantly became a favorite. If you follow us on any of our social media account you've definitely seen her. Maybe it's her lovable personality or her crazy quirks, but she's hard not to notice!

Most mornings when she's done milking she hangs out in the parlor before making her way back to the barn for breakfast. Sometimes she wants a few head scratches or she hangs out with her favorite dog, Shelia (they have a special bond). Either way we're happy to spend a few extra minutes with her while we drink our coffee and she chews her cud.