HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2012!
Well 2011 is officially over! I hope everyone had a great year. Hopefully 2012 will be just as great.
2011 was a pretty good year for me. I was a much more consistent blogger. Although I’m still not as consistent as I would like to be. Posting a blog every week is a challenging goal to meet. Sometimes I get behind. I find brainstorming the next blog posting to be the most difficult part of blogging. So if anyone has any questions, or ideas, just let me know because I am always looking for inspiration.
I compiled a list of my top blog postings for 2011. So here it goes. The top Dairy Moos posting was:
1 – Video
The top page on my blog wasn’t a blog posting at all. It was one of my pages where I list some of my videos. Over 2011, I posted a variety of videos on YouTube. I had 2 videos that went viral!
My “Little Baby Calf Mooing” video has become my most popular video clip. I originally named the video “baby calf,” but renamed it a few months later to its current name. After I renamed it, the video went viral. It’s amazing how changing a few key words can make such a big difference.
I also had an app developer ask if they could use the audio for an app they were creating for farm animal sounds. Pretty awesome! The video is pretty cute, and has nearly 6,000 views on YouTube.
The second most popular video on my blog is “How Cows are Milked.” This video has become pretty popular as well. This video is short, fast paced, and informative. It shows real California cows being milked. Interestingly, this video is popular globally! It has more views in India than in the United States. Other countries its popular in include Germany, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The video already has 3,000 views, and was only posted a few months ago! You can also visit my YouTube channel to see all my videos.
2 – Antibiotics in My Milk?
Fortunately, my article reveals the truth about the industry, and antibiotic use. There are no antibiotics in milk because it is illegal for dairies to sell milk contaminated by antibiotics. The penalties for shipping milk with antibiotics, are quite severe. A dairy who violates the rules more than 3 times will lose their license to produce milk. Any contaminated milk must be dumped. The dairy bears the financial cost of dumping the milk so dairies work very hard to prevent any antibiotics from getting in the milk.
I posted this in 2010, but it still remains my most popular posting. It serves as a remainder to me that we in agriculture must let people know what we are doing. People are interested, so we need to let them know.
3 – Milk is so Expensive… Really?
I was frustrated earlier this year when I kept hearing people say that milk is so expensive. If you put things into perspective, milk is one of the cheapest foods you can buy. You get the most nutrients, protein, ect. for the lowest cost.
If you find yourself complaining about the price of milk, read this posting. It will help you see the value of milk in a much clearer way. Milk really is a bargain bin of nutrients.
4 – Is Modern Dairy and Animal Agriculture Sustainable?
Many people may think dairy is a large contributor to greenhouse gasses, but it’s not! Dairy emissions are less than 3% of the total emissions in California. This includes all the emissions from all stages of production including processing, transportation of dairy products, and wholesale retail impact
Cows are more efficient than ever, and more milk is being produced with fewer cows. Dairy could be one of the most effective industries at reducing its environmental impact. Read this posting to learn more!
5 – Interesting Facts about California Agriculture
When people think of California, images of beaches, surfers, technology, movie stars come to mind. But images of milk, almonds, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables should also come to mind. California is the breadbasket of the world, being the 5th largest supplier of food and agricultural products in the world.
Read this posting for some astounding facts about California agriculture!
6 – The Complex Science Behind Feeding Cows
There is a tremendous amount of science that goes into feeding cows. We don’t just give the cows some hay and grain anymore like the days of yore. The cows get a specially designed diet calculated by a real dairy nutritionist. The nutritionist makes sure that the cows get the essential nutrients they need to produce milk and stay healthy and fit.
In the post, I reveal the intricacies of feeding cows. Read the posting to find out how complex feeding cows really is!
7 – What you Need to Know About Lactose Intolerance and the Surprising Health Benefits of Lactose
Lactose also has some surprising health benefits. Read the posting to learn more.
8 – Robots Take Over the World… Well Maybe Just Milking Cows
This posting reveals the future of the dairy industry. Robots are being built to milk cows, and the technology has really progressed significantly over the past few years.
9 – Calves Wear Coats
In this posting, I posted a bunch of pictures of Walden, our new Jersey calf. He wears a coat and is quite cute. It’s easy to see why this posting has become so popular!
10 – Lets eat only natural Wholesome Food Products
One dairy substitute in particular is made in a factory, and is poisonous in its natural state. Why people prefer this substitute still puzzles me. Read the posting to find out more.
