Fair Oaks Dairy - A MUST SEE!!!!

Last month I had the opportunity for the third time to travel to Fair Oaks, Indiana to visit the Fairy Oaks Dairy Adventure Center.  For anyone looking for something to do for entertainment as well as to have all your questions about dairy farming today answered, I highly recommend a trip there.  You can find out more at www.fofarms.com.  The following is a brief description of what we all did and saw.

The Dairy Tour

Upon entering the Dairy Adventure Center, visitors quickly come to a school bus like this to take a tour of one of the dairies 3000 cow farms.  The tour bus drives you through one of the cow barns, past the feed center and new babies (below).

 

This is the front of the milking center which houses the 72 cow carousal parlor.  Along side this building is the specially built garage which the bus pulls in and visitors can then proceed up one floor to the observation deck and watch the milking in the parlor.

    

 Once inside, you not only get to watch the cows being milked, but you also learn a lot from the video which tells you about the milking process.  Click on the picture below to watch the video.  Turn your speakers up - the narrative on the video is hard to hear, but the subtitles have lots of information.

The Education Center 

For me the highlight of the education center was the 4D video that we watched.  Very informative and entertaining.  Just watch out when the cow sneezes!!  Below are other parts of the center.

The above is an exhibit that contrasts farming back in the "old days" to farming today which uses technology to improve cow comfort as well as improve milk quality and production.

This is a merry-go-round of Holsteins

At this station visitors can time themselves prepping a cow and attaching the milk machine.

This is a fun and interactive climbing wall for kids.

Hall of Holsteins, each of which has some great facts to learn more about cows and dairy.

The Birthing Barn

Located just outside this barn is a stop and go light.  A red light means there's not much happening inside, but a yellow light means a cow is in labor and a green light means the calf is on it's way. 

On the day of our visit, we just missed the first calf on the right being born, but we able to watch the delivery of the calf on the left.

The Visitor Center

As if all the above wasn't enough, they also have a visitor center with souvenirs, a cheese store, a deli and ice cream shop.  We had soup and a sandwich along with milk shakes that were the best!  I brought home some of the Fair Oaks brand 5 year Cheddar which was amazing too!  This is a must see and a dream of mine is to build something like this in Manitowoc County.  I'm happy to report a group is working right now to determine the feasibility of something similar in our state!  That will take time, so again, if you are looking for a nice getaway, I highly recommend a trip to Indiana!