National Dairy Month

June is National Dairy Month and there's not a better time to take a look at the dairy industry. Dairy farms provide a service that's not only nutritional but beneficial to the community. KSANs Jason Calder reports.

Milk or Leche, whether you say it in English or in Spanish it still provides quality nutrients that our body needs to stay strong and grow.

Sandra Tapia, Dairy Max Industry Relations Specialist, said,  "You see calcium labels you know and supplements. Nothing is better than actual dairy products."

With it being National Dairy Month, we took a trip to an Adolfo Tapia Dairy Farm to find out more about the industry and how hard dairy farmers work to provide the best product possible.

Tapia said, "Dairy farmers are committed to providing America with a high quality product and therefore it starts at the dairy farm, it starts with having a high quality environment for their cattle, for their neighbors, for their families. This is, they're in this for the long run. They want to pass on these dairies for future generations."

In addition to the products Tapia said the local economy also benefits from dairy farms.

She said, "For every hundred cows you have one job so a few thousand cow dairy you have 30 jobs on the dairy, you have retail services that dairies need, feed manufacturers, nutritionist, just everything that entails going into a dairy. That's just a great economic impact for the community."

Even though the dairy prices continue to rise because of gas prices, Tapia said there isn't a better substitute for milk and other calcium rich products.

"You're still getting the nutrition for only pennies a day. Milk prices are going up but it's very essential that families keep dairy foods on their table. It's very nutritious, you get those nine essential nutrients," Tapia said.

So the cows will continue to eat and live a happy life on the farm while keeping you healthy at the same time. For more nutritional tips, log onto www.3aday.org.