Kane County Board member Mike Kenyon is secretary treasurer of the Kane County Farm Bureau and has been a member since 1971. He also operates a dairy farm and farms 1,600 acres of corn, soybeans and hay, and he’s been doing that for 45-plus years, according to the Farm Bureau website.

So when National Dairy Month came around in June, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to remind Kane County Board members — and everyone in the audience at Tuesday’s County Board meeting — to celebrate. He did so, not only by displaying the giant-economy-sized cow you see in this photo, but by handing out cups of ice cream.

Kenyon was happy to report that he had more than enough ice cream to make sure everyone on the board and in the audience got a taste.

“It’s a good thing there wasn’t anything controversial on the agenda,” he joked.

National Dairy Month started out as National Milk Month in 1937 as a way to promote drinking milk. It was initially created to stabilize the dairy demand when production was at a surplus, but has now developed into an annual tradition that celebrates the contributions the dairy industry has made to the world, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. After the National Dairy Council stepped in to promote the cause, the name soon changed to “Dairy Month.”

“Whether it’s protein to help build and repair the muscle tissue of active bodies or vitamin A to help maintain healthy skin, dairy products are a natural nutrient powerhouse,” the IDFA website says. “Those are just a few of the reasons that you should celebrate dairy not just in June, but all year long.”

Dairy Fun Facts

Did you know that adding a pinch of salt to your quart or gallon of milk makes it stay fresh longer? Here are a few more dairy fun facts:

• A cow produces an average of 6.3 gallons of milk daily and 350,000 glasses of milk in a lifetime.
• Cows eat about 100 pounds of food every day and drink 50 gallons of water.
• To get the amount of calcium in an 8-ounce glass of milk, you’d have to eat one-fourth cup of broccoli, seven oranges or six slices of wheat bread.
• Farmers measure milk in pounds, not gallons.
• A cow will produce an average of 6.3 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,300 gallons each year!
• U.S. dairy farms produce roughly 21 billion gallons of milk annually.
• The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk a year.
• June is official National Dairy Month.
• The greatest amount of milk produced in one year was 59,298 pounds by a Holstein cow named Robthom Sue Paddy.
• On a dairy farm, a farmer’s day begins and ends with milking the cows.
• Fresh milk will stay fresher longer if you add a pinch of salt to each quart.
• A cow is more valuable for its milk, cheese, butter and yogurt than for its beef.
• Home delivery of milk (i.e. the milkman) started in 1942 as a war conservation measure.
• More than 1,000 new dairy products are introduced each year.

FUN FACTS SOURCE: http://farmflavor.com/