Mini-essay #4 - Process Analysis

How to Milk a Cow
My home is out in the country between each of the few little towns in western Wisconsin. The location of my home is not even in a town, but it exists in an unincorporated destination of Falun, Wisconsin. Known for its dairy farming, tractor pulls, derbies, and the community in which I grew up in, this little locale holds the place where I will always consider my home. Of course my family has a history of farming like the many other local families. I live on a 4th generation dairy farm and have had so much practice with it, that milking a cow has become second nature. Several steps must be done for the sanitary milk to be sent in to the Co-op for manufacturing and distributing. Milking a cow consists of 4 steps: preparing, washing, administering the machine, removing the machine, and storing the milk.
The first step to milking a cow is collecting the materials needed. Before a milking, gather: the cow (obviously), a bucket of hot water with sanitizer solution, a pack of heavy-duty paper towels, a sanitized milk machine, and a sanitized milk tank. Each of these items is essential to achieve the product. Without sanitizer solution, for example, the washing step will not clean the cow’s udder thoroughly, and the milk produced may contain more bacteria than if the udder was sanitary. Now with materials on hand, we are ready to clean the area.
When washing the udders of the cow, the objective is getting the cleanest area possible before putting the machine on. First, submerge a heavy-duty paper towel into the hot sanitized water. Approach the cow slowly with paper towel in hand. Do not get so low that the cow's knees are parallel to your shoulder. Bend down slightly when reaching the udders and use the towel to clean off every surface of the 4 udders. Make sure that you have removed any manure, hair, and milk residue from the udder. Once the area is sanitized, the machine is ready to be connected with the cow.
Connecting the milking machine, though it appears easy, may be a difficult feat for a first-timer. First you must connect the 2 hoses to the pipeline. One supplies air pressure when milking and the other transports milk to the sanitized milk tank. Next you must turn the machine upright with the hoses running beneath the cow. The 4 separate parts that connect in a center globe are then attached to the udders. The air pressure holds the 4 parts on the udders and the air pulsates through the hoses, milking the cow. Removing the apparatus is soon to follow in an order of minutes.
Within a few minutes, a very small amount of milk is seen in the center globe, indicating it is time to remove the machine. First you must hang on to the metal loop attached to the center globe while turning the stopper on the hose. This stops air and milk supply. Then you must remove the 2 hoses from the pipeline. The last step is already finished, however it is the most essential part of the process.
Milk storage was obtained during the milking, but the storage finalizes the process for the farmer to store, distribute, and receive profit on the milk. The storage comes from the machines itself. During the process of milking, the milk from the cow runs through the hosing, into the pipeline, and finally ending in the milk tank. Throughout the week, a truck driver from the local Co-op comes to the farm to take the milk for distribution and further use.
Milking a cow is second nature to a dairy farmer, so that the steps of preparation, sanitizing, attaching and detaching the machines, and milk storage, are subconscious. But for those who never knew that cows had 4 udders can still learn how, if desired, to milk a cow. Farming is not based on milking cows alone, but feeding, cleaning, breeding, and taking care of the animals are other aspects. Far out in the country throughout little towns of Wisconsin and the world, farmers are all doing certain steps to do their jobs, whether it is raising beef cattle, ranching horses, or milking cows like my dad. This hard working atmosphere reminds me of life on the farm and of my family. They are well missed.