Tastethe dif ference!
By Sue Erwin - Photos by Christine Cunningham
Do you ever get a craving
for a cold glass of
FRESH MILK?
If you are a person who is in love with the
taste of farm-fresh milk, you’ll be pleased to
learn that you don’t have to leave Gasparilla
Island to get it. Hudson’s Grocery and Kappy’s
Market carry a brand called Dakin Dairy,
produced and bottled at a Florida family farm
in Myakka City. The farm is located in Manatee
County, about 65 miles northeast of Boca
Grande.
If you want to learn more about how the
milk is processed, the farm owners offer daily
tours so you can see where and how the cows
are milked, and where the milk is stored before
it is bottled.
The 2,200 female cows on the farm are
milked three times each day. The animals rotate
into the milking parlor like clockwork and know
the process from habit. Groups of 70 at a time
are taken into individual stalls, with 35 stalls on
each side.
The milking process takes about 12 minutes.
Each cow provides about six gallons of milk per
day. They can produce even more in the winter
months when it is colder outside.
Fresh • Local • Healthy
36GASPARILLA ISLAND September/October 2018