06/21/07 Virtual tour of a dairy farm

Research shows today's consumers are interested more than ever about the source of their food. A dairy producer funded web site is an effort to show the public how dairy products get from the farm to their table. National Dairy Checkoff board member Kima Simonson of Washington says the majority of Americans know little about how dairy products are actually produced. SIMONSON "We're good stewards of the land. We take pride in what we do, we produce a quality product, we're part of the community. And, I think they need to understand where their food comes from. There's a lot of hard work that goes into producing dairy. Dairy is a 24-7. The cows don't take a vacation. I don't think everybody always realizes that." Another Washington dairy producer Liz Anderson says the website dairyfarmingtoday dot org is the right way to connect with today's consumers. ANDERSON ""Everybody goes to the Internet for information now. School kids go to do all their reports, encyclopedias are a thing of the past. And so, we have an Internet Web site that the consumer can go to and ask questions about dairy farming." And a new feature; a virtual farm tour. ANDERSON "Actually, you can go on to a dairy farm and see how the animals are taken care of, how the milking is done, how the land is being taken care of. Actually, what a dairy farmer does in the course of a day." Check it out yourself, www.dairyfarmingtoday.org. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott