Dutch Belt cows look a bit like Oreo Cookies, don't you think?

Every breed of cow has something unique about it, whether it is long shaggy hair, giant horns, spots like a Dalmatian or milk that is golden. The Dutch Belt is no different. People may think the black and white markings mean they are a funny looking Holstein, but no, these girls are meant to look like giant Oreo cookies on four legs. The cows are black with a white belt circling their entire body between the shoulders and rump.

According to the history books, Dutch Belt cows were imported to the U.S. in 1838. One of the original importers was P.T. Barnum! Barnum exhibited his herd for several years as a “rare and aristocratic breed,” because the animals were bred by nobility to achieve the bright white belt.

Locally, with only one herd, Dutch Belts are a rare and unique site.

Photo courtesy of hans s

By Chandra

Living on the Oregon coast with as much rain as we get, everyone anxiously waits for April when the rains (are supposed to) taper off. The cows are no different. By mid-April we finally had a few days of dry weather and many of the farmers were able to let the cows into pasture. Early one Thursday morning, these Holstein girls were enjoying a breakfast of spring grass after milking. Nothing but the sounds of birds chirping and the occasional car driving by on its way to work.

By Chandra

To kick-off National Dairy Month, I thought it appropriate to talk a little bit about milk quality. After all, that’s how our delicious dairy products begin — with high quality milk. It doesn’t come by accident; milk of the highest quality comes from the healthiest of cows who are cared for by the best of people. Particularly when it comes to our aged cheddar cheeses, we believe our ability to develop the full cheddar notes and perfect texture can specifically be related to fresh, high quality milk.

I thought it would be fun to share a video I took early one morning on a cool spring day of cows as they walk in from the field to their morning milking. I also feel compelled to say that it was the first time I used my handy dandy little flip video camera, so sorry about the poor filming (I’m getting much better now).

The cows in the video are Holsteins. In the Tillamook Valley, about 60 percent of the herds are Holstein with around 30 percent being Jersey cows. The rest are a combination of Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Dutch Belt. The cows on this dairy gave such high quality milk that last year their dairy was recognized as one of the top three in our cooperative for milk quality. The award is based on an analysis of specific quality indicators. It isn’t easy to achieve, and takes a lot of hard work and desire to deliver the best possible product.

By Heidi

A Tillamook Jersey cow

Worldwide, there are hundreds of breeds of cows. Though all of them produce milk just by the nature of the animal’s anatomy, there are a few breeds that are specifically recognized as a dairy breed. The two most common breeds, especially around Tillamook, are Holsteins and Jerseys.

Now, there are Holstein farmers and there are Jersey farmers. Each of them fiercely defends why one breed is better than the other. One produces more milk; the other has higher butter fat. Both characteristics are important to dairy farmers. But not being a farmer, I don’t think like that. I think in terms of cuteness. And at the top of my list are the Jersey cows.

Jersey cows are the petite brown cows you see dotting the landscapes of the county. Their color can range in shades of very light tan to a very dark, almost black, brown. While their coloring is not as flamboyant as black and white spots, they have this doe-eyed appearance that just makes you want to go “aww, how cute.”

Jerseys originated on the Isle of Jersey and is one of the oldest dairy breeds. They were brought to the U.S. around the 1850s. Today, Jersey cows can be found just about anywhere in the world. Farmers favor them because their milk is the highest in butterfat and protein. They are also very efficient animals at converting their feed into milk production, and are capable of producing more milk per pound of body weight than the other breeds. For those reasons, some farmers, who may be die-hard Holstein fans, switch their herds to Jerseys.

Personally, I think they are just so adorable!

By Chandra

Farmer Hiram Smith hand milks a cow in 1912.

Milking a cow is a labor intensive process. When a cow enters the parlor, her teats are cleaned and dried. The milk is visually inspected and the milking unit is attached. About 6-8 minutes later, the unit comes off and the teats are dipped with an iodine solution to prevent bacteria entering the teat canal. At each farm, a milker preps every milking cow the same way. Depending on the herd size, parlor size and number of hands to help, milking takes an average of three hours.

That’s a very condensed version of today’s process. But going back as early as 60 years ago, milking a cow was a little different.

Enter the stool, bucket and hand-power.

Back then, the farmer would sit on a stool within reach of the udder and hand-milk the cow into a bucket. Perhaps they were hoping the cow wouldn’t be ornery and kick the bucket, or worse, kick the farmer. The milk would be poured into a milk can and transported to a creamery by way of horse and wagon. Some of our local farmers also remember their parents or grandparents setting the milk cans in a stream to keep them cool before going to the creamery.

Milking took more time back then and herds were smaller, perhaps only 30 cows as compared to today’s average of about 250 cows. In this photo from 1912, Hiram Smith is milking one of his cows. I wonder if he could ever imagine a faster process. Hmm… he was probably thinking instead, “Take the photo so this cow don’t kick me and I can get back to work!”

Computers feeding cows, automated milking, refrigerated bulk tanks, and 50,000-pound tanker trucks – my how times have changed.

By Chandra

If you’re in Tillamook you can’t help but stop at the Cheese Factory! Our photographers David and Brin.

When we launched the new Tillamook.com at the end of January we also wanted to make sure we had new photos of Tillamook cows to share. They don’t naturally pose and smile at the camera, so how does one take pictures of our lovely Tillamook cows? It turns out that if you go into their pasture, they will come to you! They are curious creatures and like to checkout what’s going on – and that’s just what they did when we visited some Tillamook farms for a photo shoot!

Our photographer, Brin, started off far away from the cows.

Within minutes, they were sneaking closer to him!

She was really curious!

What a nice view of Tillamook the cows have in this pasture!

When you go out in the pasture, rubber boots help!

The sun shines down on Tillamook cows.

What farm is complete without a dog (or several) running around?

By Laura

"Queenie" Jadean

Meet “Queenie” Jadean, a former show girl… er, show cow, actually… that, according to her farm family, has a serious case of princess syndrome. This 10-year-old girl is tall, even towering over her fellow Holsteins! But what makes Jadean, Queenie Jadean? She likes to get pampered. Show cows get handled a little more often than a regular cow. They’re trained to walk with a halter and handled often to get them used to being around crowds. They’re bathed and their hair is always trimmed so they look their best for a show. You could say they are a little spoiled. Jadean likes the special attention, in fact, she expects the special attention. She likes getting a bath, she likes getting her head scratched and she’ll give a big, sloppy kiss in return. Which isn’t as sweet as it sounds, those tongues are rough! Jadean earned her title of Queenie. In a herd prized for its genetics, Jadean has achieved a 4th generation excellent and is approaching some lifetime production milestones (her milk has produced 25,717 pounds of cheese so far!). In 2005, she won Grand Champion at the Oregon Black and White (Holstein) Show. All hail the queen!

By Chandra

Bohren Farm

Have you ever wondered about the big painted quilt blocks displayed on local barns and businesses in Tillamook County? They’re part of the Tillamook County Quilt Trail, the first quilt trail on the West coast.

The trail is a partnership between a coalition of local citizens and businesses to identify historic barns and other buildings in Tillamook County, enhance them with large painted wooden quilt blocks, share the history of the dairy farms and quilts through a self-guided tour for visitors, and to celebrate Tillamook’s rural heritage.

The barn pictured here is called the Bohren Farm and is displaying a pattern block called Lone Star. Here is the description posted in the Tillamook County Quilt Trail map:

Bohren Farm - One of the earliest owners was Peter Morgan. He also was part-owner of the sailing ship Morning Star, whose replica sits in front of the Cheese Factory. Tom Hyder later purchased the farm. Tom grew barley on the farm and made moonshine. In 1949, Gottlieb Bohren and his sons bought the farm from Tom Bohren, a Swiss immigrant, who had lived on the farm next door. During a remodel of the barn, hundreds of whiskey bottles were found under the floorboards of the barn. The original farm house was just north of the barn, but blew down in the 1950s. Gottlieb’s brother Albert was in the house at the time but came out ok. The Obrist family bought this farm from the Bohrens in the mid-1990s, because they felt the need to expand their home dairy, located on Trask River Road, when all three of their sons decided to return home and work with their father, Richard Obrist. (Lone Star)

By Heidi

Big Ears was a little too busy munching with her gal pals to cooperate and let me take her photo. I don’t blame her. If someone was taking my photo while I was eating lunch I wouldn’t cooperate either!

Cow No. 145 is called Big Ears on her farm. Big Ears was born June 23, 2010. She is a Holstein. According to her farm family, this girl’s ears were twice as big as her head when she was born! She’s also pretty smart. When she was just one day old, Big Ears was already drinking out of the 5-gallon milk bucket. Calves normally need to have the milk transferred to a bottle in order to drink the milk. What a little smarty-pants!

By Chandra

Meet Polly! She’s not being rude by sticking her tongue out; she was just licking her water bucket.

This little cutie was born Jan. 6, 2011. Her cow number is 188 but her farm family calls her Polly. She is a Holstein calf. According to her farm family, Polly is the spitting image of her mom. She has all the same markings, even around the eyes, which are little black spots in a mostly white and fluffy coat. She is just cute as a button!

By Chandra