William Whiskerson visits a dairy farm to find out how milk is produced, bottled, and transported to the shops.
Here comes William Whiskersonin his amazing travelling globe.
Greetings adventurers,I am William Whiskerson,the famous mouse explorer.
William is in the countryside.He can see green,grassy fields everywhere,but which part ofthe United Kingdom is he in?
Cheese phone, reveal my location.
The cheese phone shows Williamwhere he is in the world.
'Hi, William, today you'rein the South West of England'in a county called Somerset.'
BEEPING
Look, I've got a messagecoming through on my cheese phone.
Hi, William, I'm Theo. Do you wantto come and meet me on my farm?
A farm?That sounds like a real adventure.
Lock the location, cheese phone.
The map shows Williamwhere to meet Theo.
Explorers, away!
On his way, he passes throughlots of green fields full of grass.
There's Theo.
Hi, Theo!
Please to squeak you, William.
This is my dad, Guy.Would you like to see his farm?
Hello, William.
Hello. Yes, I'd love to.
Would you liketo see all my friends? Ah!You mean the cows?
MOO!
They're called Holstein-Friesians.
Holstein-Friesians.
How many cows do you have?
- You need a lot of fingersand toes to count them!
Most of the cowson Theo's farm are female.You can tell becausethey have udders for making milk.
Why do you have so many females?
We have lots of female cowsbecause they produce milkwe can sell to the shops.
Farmers who produce milk likeTheo's dad are called dairy farmers.
Theo offers to show Williamaround the farm.
First, Theo takes Williamto a special shedwhere baby cows,called calves, are housed.The calves are very little.
How old are they?
Up to 12 weeks.
Cows only start making milkwhen they've had a baby,so lots of calves are bornon the farm all year round.
Female calves are called heifersand they'll grow up to be dairy cowsand produce milkjust like their mums.
Quick, William, I've got somethingreally exciting to show you!Come on!
Explorers away!
William, look. She's had a baby. Oh!
This little baby calfhas just been bornand its mummy is licking it clean.
How long does it takethe calf to stand up?
Only about 30 minutes.
Very slowly, the little calfstands up for the first time.William can't believe his eyes.
What a special moment!
During the day, the grown-up cowsstay out in the fieldsbut at night,and when the weather's bad,they're taken into the cow sheds.
While the cowsare still in the fields,their sheds can be cleaned out.
OK, you two, we needto clean out these cow sheds.
What's this stuff on the floor?
It's cow poo.
The cow dung has tobe cleaned out every day.This cow dung's very smelly.
Where does it all go?
The cow dung is moved intosomething called a slurry lagoon.
Theo takes William to look at it.It's a huge pool of cow dung.Cow poo might be smelly,but it's full of nutrientswhich are very good for the soil.The dung is spread on the fieldsto help grow grass and crops,which are fed to the cows.When they aren't eating fresh grass,they eat something called silage,a mixture of different cropswhich have been grown on the farm.The silage is kept in a silage pit.
Look at that!It's like a giant mountain!
What is it?
It's cow food.We've got wholecrop wheatand we've got ryegrass and redclover that we call grass silage.The machine cutsbig blocks of silage.It's then added to the otheringredients in the feeder wagon.The scales let the farmer knowexactly how much silage to put in.It's then mixed up,ready to feed the cows.
The cows on Theo's farm are organic.This means all the food they eathas been grown without chemicals.The cows think it's delicious.
It's milking time now. The cowsare moved into the collecting yard,where they wait to be takeninto the parlour for milking.
Can we go into the parlourto watch the cows being milked?
Yes, come on, then.
The cows enter the milking parlourin small groups.They're then cleanedbefore milking begins.
Why is there a hole in the floor?
That's the parlour pit. We standin it to reach the cows' udders.A machine calleda milking unit milks the cows.It has cups that fitonto the cows' teats.
Look! I can see the milk!
The milking unit squeezes the teatson the cow's udder -this causes the milk to flow out.It travels down a pipeinto a barrelcalled a collecting jar.When the milk stops flowing,the milking unit drops away.
How much milkdoes a cow produce each day?
We're producing aboutan average of 30 litres a cow.And that's 60 of these!
What happens to the milk now?It's pumped next doorwhere it's chilled and stored inthe bulk tank, ready for collection.The tank stores the milk and keepsit cold, ready to be collected.A special lorry called a tankercomes every dayto take the milk to the dairy.The delivery man attaches a pipeand pumps the milk into the tanker.The tanker has to be very bigto hold all the milk.The cows on Theo's farmproduce 7,000 litres a day.The dairy is only six miles away,so the milk gets therequickly and stays fresh.
William and Theo go to the dairy tomeet Steve, who shows them around.They have to wear special clothingto stop germs spreading.The milk is heated up in a machinewhich kills off any harmful germsand makes it safe to drink.The milk is then pouredinto plastic bottles.The lids are placed on the bottlesand heat is used to seal them shut.This stops air gettinginside the milk and keeps it fresh.A label is then added.
What happens to our milk now?
It's going to the shopsfor people to buy.
Our milk's been on quite a journey.
Yes, it has. From the farmto the dairy to the customersin less than four days.
Would you like to come backto the farm and try some milk?
Oh, yes, please!
Explorers away!
Back at the farm, Theo pours Williama lovely glass of milk.
Thank you.
HE SLURPS
Ah!
Thanks, Theo!That was squeak-a-licious!
Theo shows William lots of otherthings made from milk - yoghurt,cream, butterand even cheese.He then gives William a cowto remind himof his dairy farm adventure.
Thanks, Theo. I've had a lovely timeon your dairy farm.
Squeak you later!
Squeak you later, William!
Can you rememberwhere William went today?
William visited his friend Theo,who lives on a dairy farm.
Can you rememberhow the cows were milked?
They were herded togetherand taken into a milking parlour.
Here,a machine collected their milk.Where did the milk go next?
To the dairy, where it was bottled.
William loved his glass of milk.
Squeak-a-licious!
Now it's time to fly, explorers!We're off on another adventure!See you soon, William!
Video summary
William Whiskerson meets Theo on his family farm.
He learns how female cows make milk and then takes a trip around the farm where he sees a calf being born.
He visits the cowshed and watches it being cleaned.
He learns about organic farming and how the cow's dung is used to grow crops for the cattle to eat.
He then sees the cows being milked in the parlour.
Next, William follows the milk as it is transported to the local dairy.
He sees it being bottled, ready to be sent to the shops.
He learns how milk can be used to make cheese, yoghurt and cream.
Teacher Notes
After viewing the clip, the children could use model animals to create a bird's eye view of the farm William Whiskerson visited.
Pupils could use a freeze-frame of the map shown in the clip to help them build up their model, cutting grassy meadows from green paper and ploughed fields from brown paper or corrugated card.
They could make hedges and trees from twigs. Remind pupils to model other features they have seen in the clip too, such as the cowsheds, a silage pit and a slurry lagoon.
The children could add buildings modelled from boxes and toy tractors, diggers, trucks and tankers to complete the landscape.
Finally, children could check the labelling on a pint of milk from a local supermarket to find out where it came from.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Geography.
This topic appears in KS1/KS2 in England and Northern Ireland, Knowledge and Understanding of the World Foundation Phase in Wales and Early/1st/2nd levels in Scotland.
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