Dairy Careers

Teacher Preparation

Learning Goal

Upon completion of this lesson students will be able to identify key careers related to the dairy industry.

Learning Standards

SS: K.4 The student will identify basic economic concepts.
SS: K.4.4 Explain how various community members including police officers, firefighters, soldiers, school personnel, business professionals, and medical personnel impact the student’s life.

Resources & Materials

Lesson Delivery

Anticipatory Set

What are some of your parents’ jobs? (take a few answers)
- That’s cool! Did you all notice that everyone’s parents have different jobs?
Explain that your job is working here at the dairy and describe to students what a day in the life of a dairy employee looks like.
- There are about ___ student workers employed here at the dairy.
Working in the dairy industry doesn’t just have to be working with cows, there are lots of different careers at dairies and today we are going to learn about five of the main careers that keep dairies running.

Direct Instruction

1st Learning Goal: Upon completion of this lesson students will be able to identify key careers related to the dairy industry.

Content Outline
Dairy Herdsman A dairy herdsman is an employee who works with the cows every day to: Maintain cow health. Ensure cows get feed and water. Milk the cows (some larger dairies have people who ONLY milk the cows, in those situations a dairy herdsman may not milk) Keep record of the cows’ health. May also: treat minor injuries, give vaccination shots, trim hooves, or help with calving.
Veterinarian Like a doctor for the animals, you might have taken your dog or cat to a vet with your parents before Responsible for giving the animals regular medical care: Treat illnesses. Prescribe medicine. Perform surgery. Provide regular health checks.
Nutritionist A nutritionist plans the meals for dairy cows. They make different feeding programs for each stage of the dairy cow’s life Point out to students that just like how adults eat differently than they do, adult cattle eat differently than calves. They must know all about different kinds of feed and how different breeds of cattle will respond to those types of feed. These people do not have to work as closely with the cows as Veterinarians or Herdsmen
Equipment Service Technician It is their job to maintain, upgrade and fix equipment used in the dairy industry. This includes: Cleaning internal parts of machines Repairing milkers Checking to make sure the equipment is running like it should. Rarely do these people work with the cows directly, it is their job to make sure equipment is taken care of, not that the cows are.
Public Relations Manager People who work in public relations manage social media accounts (like Facebook), work with people who visit the dairy, and sometimes they even help with planning the best ways to sell products. These people don’t work with the cows, instead they work with the people who work with the cows.

Content Outline

Dairy Herdsman

A dairy herdsman is an employee who works with the cows every day to:
- Maintain cow health.
- Ensure cows get feed and water.
- Milk the cows (some larger dairies have people who ONLY milk the cows, in those situations a dairy herdsman may not milk)
- Keep record of the cows’ health.
May also: treat minor injuries, give vaccination shots, trim hooves, or help with calving.

Veterinarian

Like a doctor for the animals, you might have taken your dog or cat to a vet with your parents before
Responsible for giving the animals regular medical care:
- Treat illnesses.
- Prescribe medicine.
- Perform surgery.
- Provide regular health checks.

Nutritionist

A nutritionist plans the meals for dairy cows.
They make different feeding programs for each stage of the dairy cow’s life
- Point out to students that just like how adults eat differently than they do, adult cattle eat differently than calves.
- They must know all about different kinds of feed and how different breeds of cattle will respond to those types of feed.
These people do not have to work as closely with the cows as Veterinarians or Herdsmen

Equipment Service Technician

It is their job to maintain, upgrade and fix equipment used in the dairy industry. This includes:
- Cleaning internal parts of machines
- Repairing milkers
- Checking to make sure the equipment is running like it should.
Rarely do these people work with the cows directly, it is their job to make sure equipment is taken care of, not that the cows are.

Public Relations Manager

People who work in public relations manage social media accounts (like Facebook), work with people who visit the dairy, and sometimes they even help with planning the best ways to sell products.
These people don’t work with the cows, instead they work with the people who work with the cows.

Learning Activity

Students should be asked to partner up and share which career they liked the most and why. They should then be encouraged to share their answers aloud.

Closing Announcements/Reminders

Answer any questions they may have
Show them the robot and viewing windows one more time
Thank students for coming to the Ferguson Family Dairy