Week 10- Back in my "Homeland"

I spent three days this week back in Southwest Michigan where I grew up and also down in Shipshewana and Middlebury, Indiana. It was a great experience to visit some dairy farms in Paw Paw, Berrien Springs, and Zeeland that I never knew existed. In Indiana I was able to visit with some Amish dairy farmers and learned a lot by sitting in their homes and being on their farm about their lifestyle and the ways farming can be different and more challenging for them. I was able also to see lots of buggies on the road and beautiful farmland along the way.


Perhaps the most interesting place I went this week was the dairy farm at Andrews University in Berrien Springs. In all my years growing up in St. Joseph, MI and traveling through Berrien Springs, I never knew they had a dairy farm. I was amazed to pull up the drive and see a brand new, beautiful facility. Once I headed inside I was even more impressed. Inside the main entrance was a large, soon to be finished visitors center. They hope to fill it with posters and information about the dairy industry. There is a window where visitors can watch the cows being milked in the new double twenty parlor and another window where the bulk tanks used for storage can be seen. Right now they are milking around 600 cows but have room to expand to over 1000. I learned how they hope this center will be somewhere students and visitors can learn more about the dairy industry and gain a greater respect for its importance.