While others were studying for finals, completing seminar papers, or finishing up office hours for the semester last Thursday, I was on a field trip with my mom’s second grade class in beautiful Peoria, Illinois (AKA greatest civilization known to mankind). We visited a dairy farm in rural Peoria County and witnessed the incredible amount of work that goes into providing our nation’s milk supply. Below are some random musings from the fieldtrip.

Aldo Leopold, author of “A Sand County Almanac” and widely considered the greatest American conservation writer to ever live, once wrote, “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” One of these dangers was on display as the farmer asked the kids where milk came from, and one of the children promptly responded, “the grocery store.”

To some children, the sight of a cat is much more interesting than that of a baby sheep, chickens, horses, or cows. Throughout the two hours we spent on the farm, several cats wandered around nearby. For around a half dozen kids, these felines must have been much more exotic than the myriad farm animals, as these children did not pay attention to one word the farmer said.

I’m going to interchange the terminology on a whim, but for the record: a baby bovine is a calf; a male bovine is a bull; a female bovine that has not given birth is a heifer; and a female bovine that has given birth is a cow. After giving birth, a cow can give milk for around 10 months, and must then become pregnant again. Once the cows are incapable of providing milk (usually after around 12 years), they are sold to businesses like McDonald’s for use as hamburger meat.

Milk cows are HUGE – each weighing around one ton, and each requiring 75 pounds of food daily. I once visited a mega hog farm and slaughter house in Beardstown, Illinois, and was surprised the pigs weighed 260 pounds each. I suppose using Babe the pig and that heifer from Rocko’s Modern Life as frames of reference was not very helpful.

Calves are HUGE too. Several calves were born around a week before the fieldtrip, and they were all bigger than the biggest full grown dog I’ve ever seen. Another interesting tidbit is that cows only have teeth on the bottom of their mouths. Because of this lack of upper teeth, you can stick your fingers in a calf’s mouth without getting them chomped off, and the calf will suck on the fingers in a vain attempt for milk. I goaded most of the kids into trying this, and of course they all ran around seemingly shocked that calf slobber got on their hands in the process.

The owners of the farm we visited work a ridiculous number of hours. They milk the cows every day at 5:00 AM and 5:00 PM. In addition, they feed the cows, shovel manure, feed the sheep, feed and groom the horses, feed the chickens, collect chicken eggs, mow acres of grass, raise children, and attend to everything else in life. As a result of all this required work, these people can never go on vacation or leave the farm even for a couple days. That’s dedication, and thank God they do the work because I don’t think many of us would be willing to accept the rigors of this lifestyle.