French Brothers Dairy

06/03/2026

05/08/2026

This evening we had the pleasure to host Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue and Woodstock and Edinburg Volunteer Fire Departments for a training. They were training for how to respond to a grain entrapment scenario. Anyone in agriculture knows the horror stories of grain bin entrapments and how deadly they can be, so knowing our local fire departments see the need for the tools and training to save lives in these cases makes us feel safer doing our jobs.

09/24/2025

Farm work is dangerous, there’s no doubt about it. You’re dealing with anything from rotating knives designed to chop crops in to 1/4” pieces, huge equipment that could break with out given notice, animals as big as 2000 pounds that have a mind of their own. And our farm is no different than any other , we’ve had our share of serious injuries. It’s refreshing to know though, that we work with industry partners that understand just how dangerous The Dairy Alliance is partnering with Thedairywife(a Virginia dairy farmer’s wife who is also an ER nurse and has seen firsthand how farm injuries can affect farm families), to give dairy farmer’s all access the south east a farm emergency kit that includes a tourniquet, quick clot, bandages, and other crucial medical supplies. We hope we never need it but in our industry it’s a matter of when not if.

06/01/2025

03/16/2025

Fading paint, rusted edges, and a legacy that still stands strong. This old sign is more than just a landmark, it’s a reminder of generations of dairy farmers who built something bigger than themselves.

For decades, has been bringing farmers together to market their milk, advocate for dairy, and ensure a future for the next generation. The world has changed, but their purpose remains the same: supporting the families behind every gallon.

Have you seen old signs like this on your local co-op or farm? Drop a 🥛 in the comments if you appreciate the history behind them!

03/11/2025

03/07/2025

Waylon, one of our youngest generation of farmers in our operation, thinks you should enjoy a cold glass of milk!
This week, before the rain, we were able to work with all of our weaned heifers ranging from a year and three months old to three months old. We sorted them by age and body size, vaccinated them against various diseases, and took a DNA sample to allow us to get some genetic information.
That DNA sample will get sent to a lab and analyzed to give us the genetic potential of all of our heifers. This allows us to make more informed decisions on each animal's breedings in the future. It gives us predictions on milk production potential, disease resistance, milk quality potential, and even how her udder may be structured!
We don't often get professional-quality pictures on the farm, outside of our resident photographer Marty, so we want to thank the photographer/reporter at Virginia Farm Bureau Federation for these awesome shots. Be on the lookout for her story about milk from cow to table in their monthly magazine in the future!

03/07/2025

I think this is a unique advantage to robotic milking, let me explain.

Below you see 4 tube looking columns, they each represent a teat, and the number text to it is how much milk that teat produced. The 3 with the checkmarks signify that teat is done being milked. You can see the RR teat is still milking and gave the most out of the four quarters. In a typical parlor setting, the unit comes off when the milk flow of the four quarters combined slows down, meaning you could accidentally over milk one quarter or under milk another quarter. The big circle at the bottom is how many pounds of milk she gave at this milking, so almost 6.5 gallons!

I think it's interesting how much each teat can vary on production.

(ps, this doesn't mean cows milked in a parlor are suffering in anyway, but there is potential for the robot to get slightly more milk per cow because of this quarter-by-quarter takeoff feature)

01/28/2025

Dolly/Cupid/Double Heart she goes by many names but her newest title is mom. She is probably the best we’ve done of photographing a calf from birth to calving! In her teenage phase of life she was the biggest pain in the rear, always first to the trough to eat and would push you around until you gave her feed. After having her calf she is one of the calmest heifers we’ve ever had go through the robot. If you stop by the dairy make sure to look out for the double heart!

10/12/2024

Being right next to town can have is disadvantages, like when we empty our manure pit and remind the whole town what a dairy smells like, or when our cows get out and shut down Water Street. It also makes it incredibly important that we have a good relationship with our neighbors. Today we received this piece of mail from a local day school and it let us know that our effort to keep those good relationships is working. Thank you Growing Tree Day School 4th grade class for remembering us on National Farmer Day!