Bovine Laundry

I will be the first to tell you that I absolutely despise doing laundry. It is one of those things that you just cant get away from. You need clean clothes, right? On the farm, we have “town clothes” and “barn clothes”. For our barn clothes, each child has at least two sets of everything. Two pairs of boots, two coats, two sets of snow pants, 100 pairs of gloves and hats because they lose them every time they head out to the barn. So our family of five creates quite a bit of laundry.

Now I am sure that many families can relate.

One thing many folks do not know is that in addition to trying to keep up with laundry for our family of five, we have an additional 100+ other ladies we have to keep up with. Every milking, every cow’s udder is cleaned prior to being milked. Having a clean udder prior to milking is crucial for milk quality as well as important for the cow’s health.

Each cow prior to being milk has her teats dipped with an iodine solution we call “pre-dip”. We then wipe each teat with a towel to clean the teats.

On average we milk 140 cows. Each towel cleans two cows. One side of the towel per cow. Each milking we need at least 70 clean towels. We milk twice a day, therefore we need to do laundry twice a day.

All the towels are washed as well as dried. Our cows have their own washer and dryer. They are spoiled.

Our cows are milked 365 days of the year, twice a day. Our washer and dryer run 365 days a year, twice a day. So next time you sit down to watch your favorite show while folding laundry, grab an ice cold glass of milk (with some oreo cookies of course) and think of all the farmers doing laundry for their cows. It’s not that bad, you don’t have to match socks.

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Krista Stauffer

Owner at Stauffer Dairy

Krista didn't grow up on a farm but fell in love with a dairy farmer and now works alongside her husband on their family dairy farm, raising five children. Despite her non-farm upbringing, she embraces farm life, enjoys gardening, and remodeling their farmhouse. She also runs a successful women's boutique, manages social media for local businesses, and serves on the board of a non-profit creamery, showcasing her dedication to entrepreneurship and community service.

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