ROBSTOWN — As mobile dairy classroom instructor Steven Branecky prepared to milk Lucy, a calm and collected dairy cow, a handful of third graders opened their mouths, hoping to catch a swallow of milk — Branecky did not oblige.
Instead, the children squealed as a squirt of milk hit the floor Wednesday at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown during an Ag Awareness Day demonstration.
After Branecky briefly demonstrated the hand-milking technique, a milking machine captured the rest.
The children learned where milk comes from and facts about dairy cows and the dairy industry. Over the course of the day, the third graders from schools in western Nueces County also pet young, fluffy heifers, sheep and pigs; watched baby chicks hatch from eggs; and learned about common crops. Extension agents and local high school students involved with FFA and 4-H presented.
At the cow station, a high school volunteer asked the children to guess how many baseball gloves one cow could produce, referring to the cowhide. But cows don’t have hands, one bemused child remarked.