Clarabelle: Making Milk and So Much More

Everyone knows that cows produce milk, which is great for drinking and also is made into cheese, butter, ice cream, and yogurt. But also electricity, fertilizer, and compost for animal stalls? Yes, cows produce these too! A cow is in fact an amazing organism that transforms foods such as hay, corn, and soybean meal into all sorts of other useful products. By featuring a single cow (Clarabelle) and her calf on a large, modern-day Wisconsin dairy farm, internationally acclaimed author Cris Peterson describes all the latest technology that enables farmers to create energy and other by-products from their herds. And yet none of the modern-day machinery matches the miracle of production that is the cow herself. Vibrant, close-up photographs by David Lundquist capture Clarabelle with her herdmates and her newborn calf as well as the family members of Norswiss Farm who live and work together.