Agriculture: then and now - Milking cows (Video) - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)

There was no automated farming equipment available 150 years ago and absolutely everything had to be done by hand. We’ve come a long way.

Video transcript

[Upbeat music.]

[White background]

Text on screen: agriculture: then and now

Text on screen: milking cows

[Fade to old black and white picture of a woman milking a cow by hand.]

Text on screen: then

Female narrator:
Then: Farmers used a stool and a bucket to milk their cows by hand. Cows had to be milked on schedule…

[Icon of a calendar appears on screen.]

…one at a time, twice a day…

Text on screen: twice a day

…every day, for six to eight months of the year. One cow could produce about 1,000 liters of milk per year.

Text on screen: 1,000 litres/year

[Image fades to a black and white image of a woman using a computerized device to milk a cow.]

Text on screen: now

[Picture gradually turns to colour.]

Now: Thanks to superior genetics, customized diets and highly automated systems, one cow produces about 8,500 litres of milk per year.

Text on screen: 8,500 litres of milk per year

Some farmers are even using robots to milk and feed their cows.

Text on screen: robotic milker

[Image fades to a picture of happy cows in a modern barn.]

These farmers have more time to monitor their animals, and their cows move freely in the barn, eating, sleeping and getting milked when they please.

[Fade to white.]

We’ve come a long way.

Text on screen: We’ve come a long way.

[Upbeat music fades out.]

[Canada wordmark]

Text on screen: (c) Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food (2017)

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