Dairy in the Desert

Shamrock Farms Farm Tour near Stanfield, AZ was our first planned field trip for this season.  Started as a family business some 90 years ago with 20 cows and a model T milk delivery truck, the dairy farm is now home to approximately 10,000 cows and delivers 47,000 gallons of milk per day. We went by tram around and through the dairy operation, seeing the cattle feeding lots, the milking parlor, and the "nursery" for newborn calves.
The feeding areas were designed with ventilation and huge fans to keep the cows comfortable, even during the hottest months. The milking parlor was in full operation while we were there: they milk about 8000 cows twice a day, 200 cows at a time. We watched the cows enter single file and find their stanchion.  Workers cleaned the udders and attached the milking machines.  Once 4 gallons of milk was collected from each cow, the milkers fall off, the cows are released and leave the parlor.  Then another group of cows enter...the collected milk is cooled and hauled out in large tank trucks.  Processing, pasteurizing, and bottling is done at another site.

Shamrock Farms is one of the only dairies in Arizona to offer organic milk. A separate group of about 2000 cows are maintained following regulations for organic production. One requirement is that organic milk producing cows must roam and graze in pasture.