Dairy farms take good care of cows

Regarding the Sept. 16 letter to the editor, “The truth behind dairy”:

The claims the letter writer made about robotic farming technology and cow care are untrue. For 70 years, our family at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson has cared for land and animals in Connecticut, protecting our green spaces, producing nutritious foods to feed our community.

We don’t succeed, we don’t endure tough times if our cows are not well cared for.

We have a herd of 200 cows, and they all receive one-on-one care.

Each has a detailed health report and receives a diet tailored to their needs. Our cows have room to socialize, eat, drink and sleep comfortably as they see fit in our freestall barn.

Our family has also decided to invest in a robotic milking system. This technology will allow our cows to choose when they want to be milked, thanks to an RFID system that scans them into the milking stall. A robotic arm swings under the udder, the arm automatically cleans the cow’s teats, and a laser guides the suctions cups on.

When up and running, hours spent each day rotating our cows through the milking parlor will instead be spent providing more one-on-one care of our herd.

As dairy farmers, our family and employees pride ourselves on transparency. We’ve offered up our lands for recreational use, offer activities and services to our community. We work to be good neighbors and we want our customers to trust in the dairy products we produce. We offer anyone with questions to please reach out to us to get the real truth straight from the source.

Kies Orr, Thompson