4-H camp invites kids to learn about dairy production
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on July 3, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Payton Williams, 10, pets one of the goats that has just been milked at Holly Grove Farms Thursday.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jenna Greech, 16, far right, pets one of the goats waiting to be milked at Holly Grove Farms during a 4-H day camp Thursday. Campers were able to watch a group of goats be milked before seeing both full grown and young goats.
Human children and baby goats are both called "kids" and the two of them met at Holly Grove Farms Thursday as part of the 4-H "Got Milk?" summer camp.
The camp included around 10 kids - the human kind - who came to the farm to learn about dairy production. Holly Grove Farms produces goat cheese from scratch, using milk from around 1,400 goats to create their product.
Farm owner Debbie Craig started by taking the group to the cheese plant, where a group of employees worked to create the cheese. Using a 500-gallon tank of goat milk, they added the culture and rennet used to curdle the milk into soft chevre.
Bags set off to the side contained 5-pound chunks of cheese that had finished the process. Huddled into a viewing room, a voice from among the group declared "I'd need more cheese than that."
Ms. Craig seemed a bit surprised by that statement, asking from around the corner if 5 pounds was really too little.
"Look, I eat a lot of cheese," came the reply.
Next, the group moved on to see where the goats are milked. They huddled together outside the door to the milking facility, watching one of the farm workers get each goat hooked up. The goats, for their part, seemed not to mind.
"They get fed whenever they come in here, so they come right on in," Ms. Craig said.
While the kids looked on, Summer Young, 4-H program assistant, explained the aim of the camp.
"We're coming here to learn about dairy, how it's made and why it's good for you," she said. "This is a new experience for many of them, they've never been in a place like this before."
The camp was one of dozens that 4-H sponsors over the summer. Other camps include anything from cooking and fishing to robots and rockets, some lasting a day and others as long as a week. Back on the farm, the group quickly moved on to a barn specifically used to house the baby goats. The kids - the goats this time - sat in groups in pens throughout the barn, running up to the fences whenever a hand came down to pet them.
For Payton Williams, 10, this was a particularly enjoyable part of the trip. She has shown goats in the past, and was excited to see the animals again after a year away from showing.
She said she was fairly familiar with most of what happened on the farm, but she was still happy to be around animals again.
"I just like them because they're goats, they're animals, and I love animals," she said. "Goats, at least my goats, are usually majestic."