Dairy Farm Worker

A Dairy Farm Worker’s tasks fall into two basic categories: keeping the cows healthy and keeping the place clean. While the work can be physically challenging and quite a bit stinky, it’s available all year long, which makes this farming job unique.

As a Dairy Farm Worker, you arrive at the barn early in the morning. You clean the cows’ udders and hook them to milking machines. When they’ve been milked, you turn them out into the field for a bout of exercise. Then you clean their stalls, and change out their water and food for clean batches.

When a cow falls ill, a Dairy Farm Worker may be required to provide basic care, or call a Veterinarian for extra help. You may help deliver calves, especially if it’s a difficult delivery and extra hands are needed. You may also vaccinate cows against disease.

Some dairy farms cut down on expenses by growing their own food crops, and you may be the primary crop handler. You need to make sure the crops are planted properly and watered well, and assist in bringing them in at harvest time. While you’re tackling this, you must also watch your herd carefully to make sure no cows leave the feedlot, spill their water, or get tangled in fences. In other words, you strive to prevent the multitude of problems cows can get into.

At the end of the day, you bring the cows in, clean their udders once more, and hook them up to milking machines. When they’re done with milking, you lead them to their pens to sleep for the night. No goodnight kiss is required.