News

Missouri State Fair milking parlor upgraded

The Missouri State Fair upgraded its milking facility this year from Grade C to Grade A.  Dairy Superintendent Amy Jo Estes told Brownfield Ag News that the upgrade has been a huge improvement.

“We’ve had the barn here for about 10 or 11 years now, but we were Grade C before and couldn’t sell our milk at the best price,” said Estes, during milking at the fair.  “Grade A is the best price of milk, and therefore, we really wanted to do those improvements, and we’re able to do that this year.”

The milking facility is tucked behind large windows so that fair goers can see cows being milked.  Fair Commissioner Ted Sheppard, a dairyman from southern Missouri, says the barn is part of what people learn by being at the fair.

“As farmers, probably the worst thing happening right now is we don’t get our story told to everybody,” Sheppard told Brownfield Ag News, “how our milk’s produced and what we have to go through to get that processed, to get that quart of milk in the store.”

AUDIO: Amy Jo Estes (4 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Ted Sheppard (2 min. MP3)