Program Information

Virginia is the 17th largest milk-producing state in the country. The first dairy cows were brought to Virginia in 1611 to the Jamestown settlement. Today, the average dairy herd milks 120 cows, while 100 years ago most farms had 20 or less.

ABCs of Agriculture informs about Virginia's farming community and how it affects you. ABCs of Agriculture are produced by the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) - an educational program which encourages and enhances agricultural literacy in Grades K-5 and 6-8.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the ABC’s of Agriculture! We’re here today to talk about the letter D, for dairy.

The first dairy cow was brought to Virginia in 1611, at the Jamestown settlement. Today the typical dairy herd has 120 cows – a century ago most farms had 20 cows or less.

Virginia is the 17th largest milk producing state in the country. Our top five dairy counties are Rockingham, Franklin, Augusta, Wythe and Fauquier. Last year, about 121-thousand dairy cows gave more than 188 million gallons of milk in Virginia. The economic impact of that milk for Virginia was 281 million dollars!

Milk is used to create a number of familiar food products, like butter, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream and yogurt. Nutritionists say milk is one of the best sources of vitamins and protein children and adults can consume.

And dairy cows are big! The average cow weighs as much as 14-hundred pounds- about the same weight as 7 college football players.

For the ABC’s of Agriculture, I’m Professor Brad! See you next time! Hike!

Virginia Standards