A volunteer prepares a dairy cow for milking in the milking parlor at the state fair (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)

GRAND ISLAND – Roger Henrichs of Beatrice gives an information-packed presentation in front of the milking parlor at the Nebraska State Fair.

“All dairy cows have four parts to their stomachs,” he said. “A lean dairy cow produces a lot of milk.”

He said a dairy cow produces 80 to 100 pounds of milk a day, which is about 10 gallons of milk. The cow consumes 50 to 60 gallons of water and 60 pounds of feed a day.”

When a dairy cow is 2 years old, it is time to have calves.

Dairy cows are milked 305 days a year.

“We let her rest 60 days a year,” Henrichs said.

A dairy cow lives for seven to eight years.

The latest development in the dairy farming sector is the robotic milker.

Cows can be milked up to five times a day, Henrichs said.

He said the largest dairy herd in Nebraska has 4,500 dairy cows. The smallest has 30 dairy cows.

Henrichs said he has been giving presentations on dairy cattle at the Nebraska State Fair for about 15 years.

“We try to educate people about the dairy industry,” he said.

There are five Milking Parlor demonstrations a day. Six or seven breeds of dairy cows are at the State Fair, he said.

Holstein cow at the Nebraska State Fair (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)