Down on the farm at Dakin Dairy
PHOTO BY DEBBIE FLESSNER
Dakin dairy cows are milked three times a day, for about 15 minutes each time.
PHOTO BY DEBBIE FLESSNER
First-grade students on a field trip enjoyed petting the animals in the barn.
PHOTO BY DEBBIE FLESSNER
Hand-feeding the baby cows is one of the highlights of the Dakin Dairy Farm tour.
PHOTO BY DEBBIE FLESSNER
Our tour group watched this new mother goat give birth to twins.
PHOTO BY DEBBIE FLESSNER
Andy and Lin Price and Johnny and Sherri Rigney are locals from Anna Maria Island who were taking the Dakin Dairy Farm tour for the first time.
When my husband of almost 30 years and I first started dating at age 20, we went together to the North Carolina State Fair.
I had attended the fair in Raleigh every single year since I was a youngster and always enjoyed all the rides and eating my way through the numerous fried treats. But on this particular year, my husband made the mistake of taking me into the livestock auction barn. That’s where I saw all the big beef cattle and the signs above them that state which grocery chain had bought them.