This afternoon, I made the long trek out to Superstition Farms for a thank-you event hosted by Everlasting Marks. I got there early and helped set up a little bit, taping up posters of the various groups who have contributed to the organization. Fundraising by a sponsored hiking group, labor and designs from various groups including Dobson High and a chapter of Girl Scouts, team leads, like me, who put in a little time now and then to show volunteers how to build and how not to bodily harm each other with the tools. It was nice, there was cake and fresh ice cream provided by the local farm coop Udder Delights, and at the end, the farmer whose family farm we were building on gave us a hayride tour.
Some interesting bits the farmer told us on the tour:
- United Dairymen of Arizona (the cooperative of which they are a member) is the fifth largest business in Arizona. (I'm having trouble believing this one, considering all the major aerospace/defense contractors out here. Maybe he meant local.)
- Each of their cows produced approximately 4 gallons of milk a day, although some cows produce up to 15.
- These cows are milked three times a day, every day.
- He seemed very defense of dairy farming where the treatment of cows were concerned. He pointed out how the corrals and shade structures all had numerous fans and mister systems while the farm vehicles lacked air conditioning. He defended the practice of taking the calf from its mother as greatly reducing the calf mortality rate. It really made me wonder if he got lots of people on the tour who accused him of animal cruelty. In turn, it made me wonder how any of those people have a leg to stand on, considering cattle have been genetically engineered (domesticated and bred) for thousands of years to have very particular characteristics. Yes, we need to treat all creatures in a humane way, but I would imagine the life of the of a locally owned dairy cow to be pretty pastoral.
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