Winter 2004 Newsletters
Ten Years of Giving Grants
For ten years, Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom (MAC) has been awarding mini-grants to Massachusetts educators for agricultural education projects. The Mini-Grant program was launched in 1994, when MAC Board member James Munger outlined a project inspired by his work with the Bristol County Farm Bureau. Since 1994, the Mini-Grant program has awarded $140,708 to 163 diverse projects that work to foster agricultural awareness across the Commonwealth.
Jim envisioned a program that would “facilitate a greater interaction between farmers and their consumers, bringing school groups to farms, farmers to schools and agriculture to classrooms.” Over the past ten years, mini-grants have funded a wide diversity of pro-jets, from the very technical (such as setting up aquaculture and hydroponic systems) to such projects as growing pumpkins. Some provide resources to carry out agriculture education projects, while others develop new ideas and programs that highlight the importance of agriculture.
A Mini-Grant Committee was formed to review proposals and make decisions concerning funding outcomes. The Committee developed mini-grant guidelines that are in keeping with the goals of MAC and encourage grants that seek to educate youth about the real issues involved in the agricultural industry in Massachusetts.
The maximum grant award is $1,500. Three funding cycles allow educators the flexibility to develop proposals during summer vacation and school holidays. Grant applications are due April 1st, September 1st and November 1st. A MAC Board member serves as a liaison for each project.
Over the years, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has been very supportive of the Mini-Grant program, as have the County Farm Bureaus. In 2003, the Massachusetts Society for Promotion of Agriculture donated $7,500 to support the MAC Mini-Grant program.
Mini-Grant Chair, Jim Munger is really pleased with the people that have participated over the years. Some of the grantees have given presentations to other teachers at various MAC conferences and workshops and some have been recipients of the outstanding teacher awards of the New England AITC consortium. Jim summarizes, “Agriculture is an important part of life, and teachers and farmers are the life-blood of our country and our world. I just hope people will continue to support our program.”
20 Years as an Agriculture Education Resource
In 2004, Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom (MAC) celebrates our 20th anniversary as an agriculture educational non-profit. The organization was incorporated in 1984, after two years of work by a Committee of educators and farmers brought together by Fred Winthrop, Jr., who was then the Commissioner of Agriculture for Massachusetts. This ad-hoc committee was charged to form an Agriculture in the Classroom program, directed as a result of an unfunded mandate from the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Over the past twenty years, MAC has grown to offer a diverse variety of agriculture education resources. Programs now reach more than 10,000 educators annually. Our many educational offerings include:
- Mini-Grants: Since 1994, MAC has awarded $140,708 for 163 projects to educators across the Commonwealth. Mini-Grants of up to $1,500 are awarded three time a year to Massachusetts educators. Proposals are due the first of April, September and November.
Workshops for Teachers on the Farm: Each year MAC conducts a variety of workshops for educators on farms across the state. Each session offers hands-on activities for the classroom, professional development credits, a farm tour, the opportunity to meet the farmer and to learn about the work that goes on at that farm. Since 1996, MAC has offered more than 60 workshops to 750 educators.
Annual Agriculture Conference: Each year MAC offers a full day, multi-topic conference for educators. Each session participants choose from five different workshops. Some provide hands-on activities for the classroom, while others explore new technologies or offer a chance to talk with farmers and learn what they do on the farm.
Educational Newsletters: The MAC newsletter is published three times year. Each newsletter focuses on one aspect of the organization and provides in-depth background materials and activities for one agricultural commodity or issue.
Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Web Site: Visit the MAC Web Site at www.aginclassroom.org to find ever-expanding information on workshops, conferences, past newsletter articles, resource lists, mini-grant winners and our many publications including:
Eight Lessons about Agriculture & the Environment, a booklet providing background information and activities for middle and elementary grades.
Farm Field Trip Manual, developed to assist Massachusetts farmers who want to offer field trips on the farm for school groups.
Feature articles from ten past newsletters, reprinted in booklet form with topics: Apples; Aquaculture; Buying Local; Corn; Cranberries; IPM; Maple Sugaring; Pumpkins & Squash; Sheep & Wool, and Turkeys.
The "It’s Your World" curriculum focuses on agriculture and agricultural products from across the state, offering 20 lessons for grades K through 12.
The School Community - Green Industry Handbook provides resources to facilitate cooperative gardening efforts between schools, local community groups and businesses.
- What’s Up, MAC?, a 15-minute videotape of Massachusetts agriculture, with ten accompanying lesson plans.
Dairy Farming
Dairy cows change grass and grain into milk, producing 90 percent of the world’s milk. Water buffalo, camels, goats, sheep, horses and reindeer are also milked in some parts of the world.
In the United States, common breeds of milking cows include Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn and Brown Swiss. Each breed varies in the amount and richness of milk produced. Dairy farmers are paid for milk based on the quantity, percentage of butterfat and the amount of protein. Some dairy farmers keep several breeds in the herd to maintain consistent quality and quantity of milk
The fawn colored Jersey is the smallest cow, weighing an average of 1,000 pounds. The Jersey gives fewer gallons of milk, but her rich, high-protein milk is appreciated by cheese makers. The Brown Swiss and Holstein can weigh 1,500 pounds. The Holstein adapts to any climate and produces the most volume of milk, but the least butterfat. These black and white cows have become the most popular dairy breed because today’s consumers want less cream in their dairy products.
History
Raising of cows for milk can be traced to the earliest domestication of animals. There are records of cows being milked in 9000 B.C. Those cows that gave the most milk were kept for milking. Those that gave less milk were used for meat or to plow the fields.
On his second voyage to the Americas, in 1492, Christopher Columbus brought cattle and other farm animals to the West Indies to provide milk and meat for the settlers. In 1611, cows arrived at Jamestown. They were shipped to the Plymouth colonies in 1624. Throughout Massachusetts, towns had central commons, created as community pastures for grazing.
When pioneers settled the West, they took dairy cattle with them. Early dairying consisted of keeping a family cow to provide milk, butter and cheese. Very little was sold. By the 1850s, people had moved to towns and cities,
and farmers found a market for their milk. Herds of ten, 20 and more dairy cows became common. Today’s modern dairies, developed from these small beginnings.
The Dairy Cow
Before the late 1600s, milk was only available during the spring, summer and fall, when cows could feed on pastures. When the colonists began saving some grain and hay for the cattle to eat during the winter, cows started producing milk all year long.
All cows are female. The male is called a bull. A heifer is a young female that has not yet had a calf. A young animal, male or female, is a calf. Near her second birthday, the young heifer gives birth to her first calf.
The birth of the calf begins the milking cycle. The mother cow produces milk to feed her calf. Improvements in breeding, feeding and care of dairy cows have provided extra milk, which is used for human consumption. The cow gives milk ten months of the year, then rests for two months before giving birth again. She is bred between 60 and 100 days after her calf is born. The cow has a nine month gestation.
Milking and Measures
Today all commercial milking is done by automated machines. It takes three-to-five minutes to milk a cow. They must be milked twice a day, every day that they are producing milk. Some cows are milked three times a day as a management tool to produce more milk per cow. The milking machine guides the flow of milk from the cow through clean stainless steel pipes to a refrigerated holding tank which cool the milk to 34 degrees F.
Milk is measured in pounds; there are 8.6 pounds to a gallon of milk. Each cow produces, an average of 65 pounds of milk a day, which equals 128 glasses. A herd of 75 cows will produce about 10,000 pounds of milk in two days. That is equal to 18,605 eight-ounce glasses!
Feeding
The cow is a ruminant, an animal with four compartments to her stomach. Dairy cows spend up to eight hours a day eating hay, silage and grains. Silage is fermented corn, wheat or hay with stalk and leaves. Cows eat 50 pounds of silage as well as 40 pounds of feed and hay each day.
Dairy cows are particularly dependent on water, since milk is 87 percent water. A cow can drink a bathtub-full (25 to 50 gallons) of water in a day.
Health and Comfort
Most dairy operators have computers or a professional nutritionist to develop a balanced diet for their cows. Cows may have an individualized diet depending on how much they are producing and how close they are to giving birth. The most important parts to consider in a cow’s diet are water, energy, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. A large percentage of the ruminant diet consists of forages. Unlike humans, animals can utilize the nutrients found in forages.
Dairy farmers care about their animals. They view the health and comfort of the cows as the most important part of raising dairy cattle. Their livelihood depends on it. All factors considered in the care of dairy cattle focus on the health and well-being of the cows.
Cows are kept in barns or sheds to protect them from winter wind, snow and temperatures. Cows are naturally able to withstand very cold temperatures, therefore they only need trees or any type of windbreak to stay healthy and comfortable during the winter months. Barns will also protect them from the hot summer sun. Water sprinklers are one way dairy producers keep cows cool in the summer.
The overall health of the cow includes programs to prevent and cure illnesses. Until a cow is free of medication, milk from that cow is not used. Many regulations and tests are performed to ensure that the milk is free from treatment and from bacteria.
Processing
Some dairy farmers process their own milk and sell it at the farm. Most sell the milk to a dairy-processing plant. The dairy plant sends an insulated refrigerated truck to the dairy farm every day or two to transport the milk. When the milk reaches the processing plant, it is tested to check for the absence of various treatment residues, before it is homogenized, pasteurized and packaged.
In a modern milk plant, automatic equipment does almost everything, from the time the milk arrives until it is made into the final product. All the machines, tanks and pipelines the milk passes through are very clean. The equipment is washed, rinsed and sterilized each day. Milk can also be processed into cheese, yogurt, ice cream or other products. All products are refrigerated and then taken to a grocery store in a refrigerated truck.
From Grass to Milk
Cows are ruminant animals. They have a four-chambered stomach that allows them to change grass, hay and grains into milk. As the cow eats, the food passes from the mouth through the esophagus into the rumen - the first chamber of the stomach. Ruminants do not have any upper front teeth. They eat by wrapping their tongues around their food and pulling it into their mouths.
The rumen is a very large organ that can hold up to 25 gallons of food. In the rumen, food is partially digested by colonies of microscopic organisms that break up the plant fibers, while the stomach muscles churn and blend the food. Partially digested and fermented food is then passed along to the second chamber or reticulum.
The reticulum is a membrane with "honeycombed" ridges that break the food into smaller pieces. The smallest pieces pass on to the third chamber or omasum, while large clumps (cud) are regurgitated back to the mouth to be rechewed. The cow uses the big upper and lower teeth at the back of her jaw to grind the partially digested food, mixing it with saliva, which acts to buffer the stomach acid. Cows can spend up to eight hours a day chewing their cud or "ruminating." The omasum has a narrow opening that allows only small particles of food to enter. This food is further mixed and softened. Water is absorbed from the food through the stomach walls and passes into the blood stream. The rest of the food passes on to the fourth chamber - the abomasum. In the small intestines, amino acids, fats, minerals and water are absorbed through the intestine walls into the blood stream. The walls expand and contract to move the leftovers along to the large intestines. The undigested and unuseable food that remains becomes manure, which fertilizes the grass, completing the cycle.
Meanwhile, all of the nutrients that have been collected from the digested foods are transported throughout the body by the bloodstream. In a mother cow, nutrients are delivered to the udder where they are used to form milk for the new calf. It takes 50-70 hours for a cow to turn green grass into white milk. The milk is stored in the udder until it is needed.
Adapted from Utah Agriculture in the Classroom and Project Seasons
It Comes from a Cow
Milk is a good source of protein. It is rich in minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. It also provides Vitamins A, D and Riboflavin.
The fat and sugar in milk supplies energy. An eight-ounce glass of whole milk contains about 160 calories and skim milk has 90 calories. Milk is 87% water, 4.9% lactose, 3.5% protein, 3.5% fat and 1% minerals and vitamins. Riboflavin aids in metabolism and promotes good vision and healthy skin. Vitamin D assists with the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. Together they build strong bones and teeth. Calcium regulates muscle contraction, conducts nerve impulses and helps to guard against blood clots. It helps prevent osteoporosis and reduce high blood pressure, and may also protect from colon, breast and ovarian cancers. There is a lot of easily absorbed calcium in dairy foods. One eight ounce serving of 1% low-fat milk contains: 223 mg. of calcium; eight ounces of cottage cheese has 138 mg. of calcium and eight ounces of fat-free plain yogurt provides 448 mg. Many other foods have calcium, including spinach and collard greens. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a component of milk that is currently receiving much attention. It is present in dairy products and other foods derived from ruminant animals. CLA degrades rapidly and is only present in grass-raised animals and grass-finished meat. It is also removed when the fat is removed from dairy products.
CLA is believed to be an anticarcinogen that inhibits cancers. It may also reduce total and LDL cholesterol, triglyceride levels, atherosclerotic lesions and body fat. It also seems to increase lean body mass, enhance immune responses, improve glucose utilization and increase bone formation.
Ice Cream in a Bag
Place in a small Ziploc (pint size) bag and seal: ½ cup whole milk; one tablespoon sugar; ½ teaspoon vanilla and optional: maple sugar or other flavoring to taste. Seal the bag.
- Place in a large Ziploc bag: ½ cup coarse salt (rock salt or kosher salt); 8-10 large ice cubes or two cups of crushed ice.
- Place the small bag with the milk (opening side up) inside the larger bag (with the ice and salt). Seal the bag.
- Pass the bags around to students with the instructions to gently knead, squish and shake the bags together for about five minutes until ice cream becomes firm. If your hands get cold, put on mittens or wrap in a towel.
- When the ice cream is ready, open the large bag carefully over a sink or waste bowl. Remove the small bag, wipe it clean and open it. Eat with a spoon from the bag or serve in cups.
Butter Making Activity
Materials: Per group: one cup or half-pint whipping or heavy cream at room temperature; plastic jar that seals securely (peanut butter size is ideal); two or three marbles; colander; bowl; wooden spoon; butter knife; crackers; small paper cups. Time: 20 minutes
- Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a half-pint of cream, a plastic jar and two to three clean marbles. Tell them to add the cream and marbles to the jar and fasten the lid securely. Ask students what is the purpose for the marbles?
- Pass the jar around the group. Each student should shake the jar several times as you pass it around. Listen for a change in sound as the cream begins to thicken. Ask students to predict how long it will take to make butter; record predictions and starting times.
- Continue shaking the jar and passing it from student to student. It may take 5-to-10 minutes to make the butter, depending on how vigorously they shake it. Take breaks to listen to the sound of the marbles in the jar. When do you notice a difference in sound?
- When the students see a lump of butter surrounded by a thin liquid, the butter is finished. The liquid that is formed when making butter is called buttermilk. Direct the students to place a bowl beneath a colander and carefully pour the buttermilk off. Pour the buttermilk into another container and chill it for tasting later.
- Put the colander over the bowl, and wash the butter by pouring cold water over it to rinse off any traces of buttermilk. Gently press the butter against the side of the colander with a wooden spoon to be sure all the water is out. Then have them place their butter in a small bowl. A half-pint of cream will make approximately a quarter-pound of butter.
It All Starts With Milk
Milk is pasteurized, homogenized and packaged at a processing plant. It may also be turned into cheese, ice cream, yogurt and other dairy products.
The law requires that milk be pasteurized to kill any harmful bacteria that may be present. This doesn't’t change the flavor or the food value. Milk is heated to 165E F for 15 seconds and immediately cooled.
In homogenization, warm milk is forced under high pressure through tiny openings. This breaks up the fat in the milk, so that the cream will not rise to the top. These small milk particles stay suspended throughout the milk.
Evaporated milk is formed when more than half of the water is removed. The milk is homogenized, fortified with vitamin D and heat sterilized.
Remove half the fat in the milk to get 2% low fat milk. When all the fat is removed you get nonfat milk. With the exception of milk fat, skim milk has the same nutrients as whole milk.
Milk is separated through centrifugal force into heavy cream and skimmed milk. Light cream is a combination of heavy cream and milk.
Butter is made by churning or whipping pasteurized cream. The churning process "sticks" the fat particles together. Some of the other milk solids also cling to the fat. The butter is worked and washed and salt may be added. The liquid part remaining is called buttermilk.
Add cream or a mixture of cream and milk to milk curds and get cottage cheese - regular or low fat. cottage cheese is nutritious and lower in calories and fat than most hard cheeses.
Make yogurt by adding nonfat dry milk solids and a starter culture to low fat milk.
Add sugar, flavorings (and sometimes eggs) to cream, cool and agitate to get ice cream. Exactly the right amount of air must be whipped into the mix during freezing to give ice cream its smooth texture. For ice milk use milk.
Milk Math
On average, a dairy cow in Massachusetts will produce 60 to 70 pounds of milk a day for 305 days. She produces larger amounts of milk during the first months of her milking year and smaller amounts as she approaches her dry months.
Farmers are paid for their milk based on the amount of butterfat, protein and other solids. A minimum price to be paid for 100 pounds of milk is set each month by the Federal government. The money that the farmer receives must pay for all the expenses of running the farm. This includes feed, water, shelter and veterinary expenses for the cows; the cost of farm machinery and equipment to grow and store crops, milk the cows, cool the milk and store it; and the expenses of hiring farm staff and support family who work in the business. Milk Problem: A dairy farmer milks an average of 100 cows a day. Each cow produces an average of 65 pounds of milk per day during her 305 day milking cycle. The farmer receives an average of $14.35 for 100 pounds of milk. There are 8.6 pounds in one gallon of milk. At the supermarket the cost of a gallon of milk is $3.00. Can you answer these questions?1. How many pounds of milk does one cow produce in one week? 2. How many pounds of milk will the farmer get from 100 cows in one year?3. How many gallons of milk will one cow produce in one week?4. How much money will the farmer get in one year for the milk of 100 cows? 5. How much money does the farmer receive for a gallon of milk? 6. What percentage of the total cost the consumer pays for a gallon of milk is paid to the farmer?7. How many half-pints containers of milk can one cow produce in one day?8. Collect and wash enough half-pint containers to build a pyramid that equals what one cow produces a day.
Answers: 1.) 455 pounds; 2.) 1,982,500 pounds; 3.) 52.91; 4.) $284,488.75; 5.) $1.24; 6.) 42%; 7.) 120.
Mad Cow Dilemma
In December, the first known U.S. case of B.S.E. (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or Mad Cow disease was found in a six-year-old Holstein cow from Washington State. When the cow was sent to slaughter, her tissues were tested for B.S.E., because she was paralyzed. Two weeks later, test results came back as positive.
The U.S.D.A. immediately began tracking the animal as well as recalling the beef that resulted. This recent outbreak brought to national attention the importance of food safety and a review of the meat processing system in the U.S.B.S.E. is a wasting disease of the brain. The brains of B.S.E.-affected cows have microscopic holes, giving them a sponge-like appearance. The disease begins when protein molecules in the nervous system called prions become abnormally folded. When an abnormal prion touches normal prions, they refold to match the abnormal ones. Eventually brain cells, nervous system and bone marrow become clogged with abnormal proteins, ravaging the brain and crippling the cow. Prions can arise spontaneously and can also be passed along when an animal eats infected nervous-system tissue from a diseased cow or sheep. Unlike viruses or bacteria, prions can’t be destroyed by cooking, since they have no DNA or RNA. If humans eat contaminated tissue, the prions can corrupt human protein molecules, causing paralysis and death.
Since 1997, the F.D.A. has banned feeding of animal products to cattle. With this outbreak, the U.S.D.A instituted a series of measures to ensure that American beef is safe including: 1) A ban on use of downer cattle for human food. 2) The implementation of a national system of livestock ID. 3) Specified risk material tissue from the nervous system and small intestines of cattle are prohibited from the human food supply. 4) Advanced meat recovery, a mechanical process used to remove more meat from the bone, will be restricted from using spinal cord material and prohibited from the human food chain. 5) Air injection stunning of cattle will be banned to prevent the dislocation of any nervous tissues. The United States plans to double the number of cows tested for B.S.E. in 2004.
Dairy Resources
| Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources
251 Causeway Street Suite 500
Boston, MA 02114
www.massgrown.org |
New England Dairy and Food Council
617- 734-6750 or 413-743-2345
www.newenglanddairycouncil.org |
New England Dairy and Food Council
617- 734-6750 or 413-743-2345
www.newenglanddairycouncil.org |
| National Dairy Council
10255 West Higgins Road Suite 900
Rosemont, Illinois 60018
www.nationaldairycouncil.org |
Dairy Processing for Kids
www.braums.com/JustKids/AllAboutCows2.asp |
The Story of Milk
www.agr.state.il.us/kidspage/milkstry.html |
MooMilk: Adventure into the Dairy Industry
www.moomilk.com |
The Amazing Milk Book
Catherine Ross and Susan Wallace,
Addison Wesley, 1991. |
Cows in the Parlor: A Visit to a Dairy Farm Cynthia McFarland, Atheneum, 1990. |
| Dairy Cows and Heifers: A Dairy Project Workbook Ron Orth, 4-H, 1993. |
Dairy Farming in Vermont: K-4 Standards Based Dairy Unit Jill L. Peck and Kara Cimon, Vermont Agriculture in the Classroom, 2002. |
A 4-H Dairy Foods Project Manual
National 4-H Council. |
| From Farm to Table Heather Ware and Matthew LeRoux, NE Heritage Breeds Conservancy & Hancock Shaker Village, 2002. |
Milk: From Cow to Carton
Aliki, First Harper Trophy, 1992. |
The Milk Makers
Gail Gibbons, Scholastic, 1985. |
Manure to Meadow to Milkshakes
Rick Jorgensen, Trout Black and Mary Hellesy, Los Altos CA, 1991. |
Project Seasons
Deborah Parrella, Shelburne Farms, VT, 1995. |
Thanks to Cows
Allan Fowler, Children’s Press, 1992. |
A Visit to A Dairy Farm
Sandra Ziegler, Children’s Press, 1987. |
What a Wonderful Day to be A Cow
Carolyn Lesser, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. |
Mission: Massachusetts Agriculture ion the Classroom is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) educational organization with the mission to foster an awareness and learning in all areas related to the food and agriculture industries and the economic and social importance of agriculture to the state national and the world.
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