By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

FAIR OAKS, Ind. — Lounging in beds of fresh sand, 30,000 dairy cows in northern Indiana call Fair Oaks the largest dairy in the state and their home sweet home.

At Fair Oaks, home means a naturally ventilated freestall barn, with room to walk and play; inorganic sand bedding for every cow; 24-hour veterinarians; on-call nutritionists, who coordinate the optimum nutritional rations; and a ride on a carousel milking parlor nearly three times a day.

As one of the leading milk producers in the country, Fair Oaks houses its 30,000 head of Holsteins on 10 separate sites, each housing 3,000 cows and featuring a 72-cow rotary parlor on every farm.

The farm, though, also believes it should educate the public about dairy production.

The Dairy Adventure Center, an educational and interactive museum featuring cow nutrition, milk processing, dairy breeds, importance of milk and more, is a unique facet of the facility.

Guests can visit the big red birthing barn to view a calf being born, drive through a freestall barn, or view the active rotary milking parlor, which carries nearly 72-cows around for as long as they need to milk out.

Adventure-goers can also go to the cheese factory and store, featuring award-winning cheeses such as their asiago or sweet Swiss. Much more than just a side show, the Dairy Adventure Center off of I-65 welcomes thousands of visitors every year.

Fair Oaks may be an agritourism hot bed in northern Indiana, but beyond that, the company touts two main priorities: cow comfort and cow care.

“Nobody can hold a candle to the way we do things at Fair Oaks,” insisted farm manager Carl Ramsey, who has been working for the dairy since its opening day.

“Our cows are as happy as can be in our buildings. In the rotary parlor, most (cows) are chewing their cud and that’s a happy cow.”

A particularly important aspect of “happy cow” health is meeting their nutritional demands, according to Ramsey.

“We feed the highest value nutrient ration, diminishing marginal returns and aiming for maximum production of every cow,” added
Ramsey.

To get the biggest bang for their buck, Fair Oaks feeds their cows a Total Mixed Ration (TMR), which includes 75 percent corn silage and the rest in vitamins, minerals, corn grain and alfalfa hay.

Individual rations depend on the cow’s stage of lactation, whether lactating, gestating or dry, each cow is fed a diet to fit her unique needs.

In fact, a transponder on the neck strap of every cow allows the farm herdsman to control and monitor each cow’s daily ration.

To supply the farms’ commodity needs, Ramsey who manages the grain operation, said they plant 13,500 acres of crops annually – 6,500 in corn, 3,000 in alfalfa and the balance in beans, ditches and CRP land.

“And that is not even enough, we still have to buy from outside,” said Ramsey as he gestured to the 750,000 bushels of grain storage that sits behind his office.

Which, Ramsey said, is good for the economy.

“We pump literally millions back into the local economy,” he admitted.

Another way Fair Oaks contributes to the economy is by hiring local workers at the dairy and Ad-venture Center, where Ramsey said the farms pays a “very competitive” salary.

In total, only 130 people are employed at Fair Oaks. Even though the farm feeds and milks thousands of cows a day, Ramsey insists that “our veterinarian and herdsman can hold three-hour long conversations about individual cows.”

“The adventure center and cheese shop is a great additional income for the company, but what it all comes down to is the cows and we pride ourselves on offering the absolute best in comfort and care no matter how many cows we have,” concluded Ramsey.

For more information about Fair Oaks Farms, go online at www.fofarms.com or call 877-536-1194.