wrights dairy

Wrights Dairy Farm Wrights Dairy is a 4 th generational family farm, which started by milking 5 cows and now proudly milks over 130 cows. They bottle over 270,000 pounds of milk a month and sell it exclusively in their bakery and market shop. Located in North Smithfield, RI Production A calf must be two years old, before she can get pregnant and begin producing milk. From this point on, the calf will continue to get pregnant every year, so she continues to produce milk. Wrights farmers milk their cows every twelve hours; while one farmer milks, another one is putting down fresh feed and cleaning the barn. Because Wrights, is a small operation, they can pay close attention to their cows and keep them in good health – with most cattle living about 8 years. Wrights will use antibiotics to save a cows life, but they follow preventative measures as best as they can to avoid that. Once milk leaves the cow, it is in the processing plant for about 24 hours, and then has around a 2‐week shelf life. It is extremely important that the milk is chilled quickly, and handled carefully before processing. Once it is cooled, it is heated at a high temperature for just a minute, to kill any bacteria, and then is returned to the cool state. In 2009, Wright’s built a new barn, which houses a double ten parallel rapid exit parlor. This modern system helps the farmers use their time more efficiently. Ten cows walk down a row and enter individual staging areas. A dip is used to then clean and sanitize the utter, and relax the cow and promote oxytocin release. Each cow gives about five gallons per milking, or about ten gallons per day. This digital system reads a collar on each cow that keeps track of how much milk she gives and how much walking she does. This pedometer encourages the farmers to keep a tract of her walking to note on her health. “It’s a privilege, it’s a burden, it’s a great thing, and it’s a lot of work and pride. Building the new parlor was our commitment to continue to have cows and produce milk.” – Elizabeth Wright Feed Land Challenges Cows are fed a total mixed ration of corn silage, hay and grain. They test the ratios for the optimal health of animals. Since their land is on 90 acres of swampland, the cows do not graze. However, they do grow their own corn, so they can control the quality of their feed. They also work with the NRCS to develop plans to maintain runoff to protect the nearby watershed. Most manure is used for fertilizer, for the cornfield, or compost. What does Family Farm mean to Wrights Dairy?

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Interview with Elizabeth Wright

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WrightsDairyFarmWrightsDairyisa4thgenerationalfamilyfarm,

whichstartedbymilking5cowsandnowproudlymilksover130cows.Theybottleover270,000poundsofmilkamonthandsellitexclusivelyintheirbakeryandmarketshop.

LocatedinNorthSmithfield,RI

ProductionAcalfmustbetwoyearsold,beforeshecangetpregnantandbeginproducingmilk.Fromthispointon,thecalfwillcontinuetogetpregnanteveryyear,soshecontinuestoproducemilk.Wrightsfarmersmilktheircowseverytwelvehours;whileonefarmermilks,anotheroneisputtingdownfreshfeedandcleaningthebarn.BecauseWrights,isasmalloperation,theycanpaycloseattentiontotheircowsandkeepthemingoodhealth–withmostcattlelivingabout8years.Wrightswilluseantibioticstosaveacowslife,buttheyfollowpreventativemeasuresasbestastheycantoavoidthat.

Oncemilkleavesthecow,itisintheprocessingplantforabout24hours,andthenhasarounda2‐weekshelflife.Itisextremelyimportantthatthemilkischilledquickly,andhandledcarefullybeforeprocessing.Onceitiscooled,itisheatedatahightemperatureforjustaminute,tokillanybacteria,andthenisreturnedtothecoolstate.

In2009,Wright’sbuiltanewbarn,whichhousesadoubletenparallelrapidexitparlor.Thismodernsystemhelpsthefarmersusetheirtimemoreefficiently.Tencowswalkdownarowandenterindividualstagingareas.Adipisusedtothencleanandsanitizetheutter,andrelaxthecowandpromoteoxytocinrelease.Eachcowgivesaboutfivegallonspermilking,orabouttengallonsperday.Thisdigitalsystemreadsacollaroneachcowthatkeepstrackofhowmuchmilkshegivesandhowmuchwalkingshedoes.Thispedometerencouragesthefarmerstokeepatractofherwalkingtonoteonherhealth.

“It’saprivilege,it’saburden,it’sagreatthing,andit’salotofworkandpride.Buildingthenewparlorwasourcommitmenttocontinuetohavecowsand

producemilk.”–ElizabethWright

Feed

LandChallenges

Cowsarefedatotalmixedrationofcornsilage,hayandgrain.Theytesttheratiosfortheoptimalhealthofanimals.

Sincetheirlandison90acresofswampland,thecowsdonotgraze.However,theydogrowtheirowncorn,sotheycancontrolthequalityoftheirfeed.TheyalsoworkwiththeNRCStodevelopplanstomaintainrunofftoprotectthenearbywatershed.Mostmanureisusedforfertilizer,forthecornfield,orcompost.

WhatdoesFamilyFarmmeantoWrightsDairy?

CompetitionWrights’mostexpensivecostisfeedingtheanimals.Eventhoughtheygrowtheirowncorn–themoneytorentthatland,putgasinthetractors,paytheworkers,andequipmenttoprocessthecornisexpensive.Thebakeryshopisimperativeforthemtostayafloatasabusiness–theincomefromthebakeryprovidestheextramoneytobuythenewtractorandinvestinthenewtools.Currently,Wrightshasrelativelyconsistentsales–thesamefamiliescometopickupmilkregularly.Withinthestate,RhodyFresh,hasnotpresented

competitionbecauseWrightsalreadyhadadevotedcommunityandbrand.TheydoappreciatehowmuchattentionRhodyFreshdrawstodairyproductioninRI.Outsideofstate,technicallyanyonethatsellsmilkistheircompetition–theCVSdownthestreetortheconveniencestore.Though,attheseplaces,onecannotseetheanimalsorhowtheyarebeingtreated.So,Wrightspromotestheirmilkasbetterforthesereasons,andsimplythefreshnessandquality.Thisbrandinghasallowedthemtocontinuetofarmandproducemilk.

LookingForward

• Fourfulltimefarmersandoneparttime

• 70employeesresponsibleforcombinationofalltasksmilking,processing,bottling,baking,managingstore

• 10ofthe70employeesarefamilymembers;theyareresponsibleformostlyfarmingaspectsofthebusiness

Wrightscurrentlyproduces13,000gallonsofmilkaday

Labor

WheredoyouwanttoseeWrightsintenyears?

“Hopefully,stilldoingwhatitsdoing.Providingfoodatalocalleveltopeopleinthearea.Providinganeducationforpeopletocomeandseewheretheirfoodcomesfrom,theconnectiontomilkandhowtogetittothem,showingpeoplewhatitistofarm.KeepingWrightsadestinationandexperience”

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