From Cow to Carton

Milking time at a South Western Nova Scotia Dairy Barn begins each day right around the time the birds begin to sing - 5 A.M. A typical large farm has in the range of seventy eighty-five milking Holsteins. Farms of this size exist in our region and are of the largest and most modern in this end of the province.

When milking begins, cows are milked successively in groups of twelve. Each group enters the specially designed milking parlour, a large room with six diagonal stalls on each side.

As the cows munch contentedly on feed, their udders are quickly washed with a disinfectant solution before milking machines are attached. The milk is then pumped to large sanitized glass bottles adjacent to each station and amounts from each cow are recorded carefully. A top producing cow can supply around 60 kilograms of milk each day. That's between 50-60 liters of milk by old-fashioned measurements folks! Next the milk is released into the main pipeline that takes it directly to a 5,000 liter refrigerated holding tank where it is held at just below 4* Celsius. The warmth derived from the fresh milk preheats this farm's hot water. Total elapsed time for the milking of each group of 12 cows is generally between 8-10 minutes.

Some farms in the Yarmouth area that supply Cook's Dairy Farm Ltd. with fresh milk include James Trefry, Carl Sweeney, Foggy Bay Farm, and Churchill's Farm. Twice a day around 250 cows are milked. Every two days, a licensed transporter visits these farms and performs an "on-the-spot" quality test before the milk is transferred to the tanker. A sample is also sent to the provincial Ministry of Agriculture laboratory.

At the lab, the milk undergoes a series of tests, including tests for bacteria and composition. Any milk that does not meet strictly regulated standards is automatically disposed of in an "environmentally-friendly" way.

As soon as the milk reaches Cooks dairy plant in Chebogue it is pumped into a 30 foot tall silo connected to the main building. From the silo it is pumped to the seperator which separates the cream from the milk. Percentages of cream are mixed with milk to create blend, 2 % and 3 1/4%. A vat with an agitator is used to mix products containing sugar - chocolate milk, eggnog, and juices.

The milk travels throughout the plant via a series of pipes and large holding tanks near the ceiling. Vitamins A and D are added before it is pasteurized at a temperature of near 72* C. It's then homogenized to break down fat globules to prevent them from rising and cooled down to 3*C in ten seconds.