Todd Griffin loves his job.
He gets to travel around the state with his Jersey dairy cow, Kate, and teach.
He works for Southwest Dairy Farmers and hauls Kate in a mobile classroom trailer complete with a generator, milking machine, big screen television and a PA system.
Griffin has been in the dairy business more than 30 years and really enjoys speaking to the public and especially school children about where their dairy products come from.
He had just finished a presentation speaking to a group from City View Elementary.
"They've got great questions, oh man, fourth-graders are awesome," said Griffin.
Kate is a Jersey dairy cow, one of the smallest breeds of dairy cattle and prized for their high butterfat content which produces the richest milk.
He also touches on the science aspect and how vitamin D comes from milk and its importance in boosting the body's immune system.
"Education is our main focus with this. We want to educate our kids, not just our kids, our public as well as their parents, too, about the nutritional value of our dairy products. Right now, more than ever, the importance of vitamin D in our diet has really come to fruition as far as boosting your immune system and preparing it to help fight this COVID off." added Griffin.
Griffin's jokes and easygoing manner held the students' attention as he told stories about taking care of a farm, running a dairy and how dairy farmers have to make sure all the animals in their care have shelter, food and water before the farmer can sit down to eat.
"This is natural science at its finest right here. When you start talking about animals and what they do and why they do the things they do, we try to use the science to our advantage and at the same time, keep our animals as healthy as we can and keep them happy," said Griffin.
The youngsters especially enjoyed the milking demonstration both with an automatic milking machine and by hand. Squeals were heard as Griffin squirted the raw milk straight from the udder toward those sitting in the front row.