OHS students get a glimpse at the dairy life

Owatonna High School agriculture students had the opportunity to step outside of the classroom and experience the ins and outs of a dairy operation during a field trip to Rick Balzer’s farm in Medford last week.

Agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor Liz Tinaglia’s class spent the day learning about robotic milking, the dairy filtration process and the humane treatment of cows in their barns.

“We’re very lucky and grateful for Rick Balzer being generous enough to allow us to come here. This is the real thing. It’s one thing to talk about it in class. To actually to come here and see it, smell it, feel it – all that kind of stuff – that’s the real cool thing,” said Tinaglia.

The day began with students filing into Balzer’s new barn where the robotic milking station takes place.

As students listened to Balzer explain the process, they were able to witness cows step onto the platform and actually be milked right in front of them.

“The robotic milker was really cool because I had heard a lot about them, but I’d never seen one,” said sophomore Halle Anderson.

After the milking station, the group went over to the bulk tanks where the dairy is stored and filtrated before being picked up by the milk man.

The last step of the day was seeing the stars themselves: the cows.

Balzer’s barn included feeding stations, an open-area for the cows to move around, a robotic brush for their fur, and more features aimed at optimizing living conditions for the cows.

However, the goal of the day wasn’t just to show students the life of a dairy operation.

The hopes were that it would their peak interests in potentially pursuing a career in dairy.

“We want to show them where their meat and dairy come from while also hoping that one day they’ll work in the dairy industry. But the biggest thing we hope they learn are that our animals are treated well,” said Balzer.