Meet a Colorado Dairy Family !
About 2 % of the country feeds the rest of us . Many have been farming for generations . Many are immigrants . When it comes to dairy farms , 95 % are family-owned . They work behind the scenes , at the mercy of the weather , with no weekends off . Yet something still makes them choose this living . Let ’ s meet the Dinis Family of Empire Dairy .
Norm Dinis is a first-generation U . S . citizen whose father , Jack , moved to the U . S . from Azores , a small group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean . Jack grew up dairy farming on the tiny islands , immigrated to Toronto , Canada when he was 17 and worked various jobs until he decided to sell everything he owned to move to Colorado . There , he joined a cousin who was milking cows . Eventually , when his son Norm had graduated from high school , Jack bought a dairy farm of his own .
Norm and his brother , Bill , now manage a large dairy herd in Colorado . Norm has a wife , Britt , and three children ; Austin , Jagger and Olivia . He sees the larger size of his dairy as an advantage and a more sustainable business model – he can ship full tankers of milk , eliminating the need for multiple route stops to fill a truck , and lowering carbon emissions and gas use . He also reuses water by first using it to cool milk before it is stored , then later giving it to his cows to drink .
The farm is also smart about using manure to fertilize the fields of corn and alfalfa they grow . They keep track of their cows with electronic monitors .
“ Cattle are creatures of habit ,” Norm said . “ They want to be fed and milked the same way every day – having technology and protocols in place helps maintain this consistency .”
Norm is especially proud of his farm ’ s employees – many of whom have immigrated to the U . S . just like his own father .
“ I saw what my dad had to work through as an immigrant and how hard he struggled to be where he is today – to attain that ‘ American Dream .’ I am proud of the legacy of my family and of the industry as a whole .”
Norm and Britt Dinis , with two of their three children , Olivia and Jagger .
Jagger Dinis walks down the feed lane examining cows .
Dairy Tour 360
Source ( story and photos ): DairyDiscoveryZone . com
Want to learn more about dairy production ? Take a 360-degree virtual tour of a dairy farm . Visit https :// dairytour360 . com / or scan the QR code . Or visit DairyMax . org for VR viewing options .
The Colorado Reader publication is an Agriculture in the Classroom project of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture . The Colorado Foundation for Agriculture ( CFA ) is a 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit education corporation and works with industry partners to help meet our shared vision of advancing Colorado agricultural literacy . We provide Agriculture in the Classroom resources and programs to Colorado educators and students , many of which are FREE or at minimal cost . For more information or to make a donation to support agricultural literacy education programs , visit www . GrowingYourFuture . com , or contact Jennifer Scharpe , Colorado Foundation for Agriculture , 10343 Federal Blvd Unit J Box 224 , Westminster , CO 80260 , 970-818-3308 , Info @ GrowingYourFuture . com .
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With additional support from : Dairy MAX and Colorado Milk Marketing Board
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