Mobile farm brings ag life to students

Though Campus Park Elementary is in the heart of California where milk is a top commodity, Thursday was the first time many of the Livingston students ever saw or touched a cow.

“We live in this part of California where cows are everywhere,” said Jorge Arteaga, the school’s principal. “But not many of these kids have gotten to see one up close.”

Enter the Dairy Council of California. The organization was founded in the 1930s on the concept of a “mobile dairy classroom,” much like the one that visited Campus Park on Thursday, said Kimberlee McLaughlin, the instructor. The organization works to teach city children about farming and nutrition, she said.

On Thursday, McLaughlin brought to the school a trailer that opened up to reveal a 1,300-pound Holstein dairy cow named Snickers. Standing next to the trailer, the elementary students were just tall enough to stroke her leg.

“We talk about where milk comes from and introduce them to healthy eating,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin presented Snickers, a 6-year-old cow, to the students after establishing a few ground rules about how to treat an animal: “Use your nice and quiet voice. You don’t want to scare the cow. Don’t point and laugh at the cow. Be nice and respectful.”

Then McLaughlin launched into the anatomy of cows, explaining how Snickers’ tail functions as a fly swatter and how her stomach produces cuds.

Snickers’ favorite things to eat are banana peels, McLaughlin said. She also eats almond shells and alfalfa.

McLaughlin also taught the students the technique to milk Snickers. When she squirted milk from the cow’s teat, many of the children broke out in laughter.

The students were also quizzed on dairy products.

That’s all part of the dairy council’s mission. The council partners statewide with dairies, which provide the cows for the mobile classrooms. Snickers came from a dairy in Galt. Other mobile classrooms visit schools in Los Angeles, San Diego, the Bay Area and another in the valley.

“It’s not every day you get to incorporate agriculture with primary kids,” she said. “Dairy cows are sort of a novelty for them. It’s fun for me to get to show them the cow and where milk comes from.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Mobile farm brings ag life to students."