Vindy reporter decides: Is milking awesome, or gross?

By EMMALEE C. TORISK

etorisk@vindy.com

CANFIELD

When I asked Howard Moff, the director of dairy and beef cattle at the Canfield Fair, if he had any cow-milking wisdom to impart, he chuckled, then rather succinctly explained what to do.

“Pull down and squeeze at the same time,” he said. “You can feel when it fills with milk, then you squeeze it out.”

I waited for further instruction, but that was it.

Not willing to admit that I had no idea how to milk a cow by hand, especially to a lifelong dairy farmer, I thanked Moff, then headed toward the fair’s cattle area, which comprises eight barns and two tents.

In one of those tents, just behind the milking parlor at the south end of the fairgrounds, Oreo — a black and white Holstein cow — was waiting.

For decades, fairgoers of all ages have been able to milk a cow the old-fashioned way, with help from some experienced 4-H members. About 2,500 children and adults attempt it annually, Moff said, adding that all receive a badge to proudly pin upon their shirt: “I milked a cow at the Canfield Fair.”

This year, I decided to go for it.

As soon as I neared the tent, though, I began to reconsider, namely when several small children emerged from it looking shaken and, well, sort of grossed out.

When I walked up to Michael Van Curen, the 10-year-old from Cuyahoga Falls was in the midst of dreamily planning his future as a dairy farmer.

Michael’s parents, Chris and Judy Van Curen, had slightly prodded him to try milking the cow, but he ended up really liking “the experience of it,” he said.

“It was kind of gross in some ways,” he said. “When I was touching the udder, it felt lumpy and weird.”

I was not terribly encouraged by that response. But Michael continued.

“At first, it was kind of hard, but I got used to it,” he said.

Michael’s younger sisters, Madison and Mattea Van Curen, also chimed in, both emphasizing that milking a cow by hand was “gross, but awesome.”

Read about Emmalee's milking experience in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.