Freeville dairy farm highlighted in documentary series

One of Tompkins County's longest-running family-owned dairy farms is featured at the center of a new, free to view documentary series.

Californian sketch comedian and actress Vanessa Bayer was a fish out of water when she visited Freeville’s own Beck Farms during the filming of Dairy Diaries, a five-part documentary series on the state of the United States dairy industry.

The series – sponsored in part by the American Dairy Association – launched April 22 on The Roku channel – a free streaming service featuring over 350 live TV channels and series, featured prominently to users of the popular Roku media streaming devices.

From the city of angels to the county of cows

Tyler Beck and his family, who’ve been milking cows for four generations on their Freeville farm, show Bayer and anyone watching the documentary the ins and outs of modern dairy farming and the work being done to shape the industry’s future.

"As someone who consumes more dairy, and specifically cheese, than I'd like to admit, I wanted to learn about how milk gets from the farm to the store," Bayer said in a statement. "I was particularly interested to hear how the industry is working to become more sustainable because obviously, we all gotta get moo-ving in that department!”

Beck Farms has implemented closed-loop circular processes, using their cows' manure to grow their feed on-farm, which reduces carbon emissions and helps ensure a legacy of sustainability for future generations.

"We loved sharing our farm with Vanessa and are excited to share it with the world," said Tyler Beck, owner of Beck Farms, in a statement. "We hope Dairy Diaries shows the great pride we take in our responsibility to nourish families with delicious dairy foods. So while it may seem odd to some, we wouldn't give up the 3:30 a.m. wake-ups for anything."

Sustainability and the future of dairy

Thanks to increasingly modern and innovative dairy farming practices, the environmental impact of producing a gallon of milk has shrunk significantly, requiring 30% less water, 21% less land and a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007.

Work of this nature compliments the studies of Cornell’s Dr. Joseph McFadden, associate professor of dairy cattle biology at Cornell University, who is also featured in the documentary.

McFadden has been working with university researchers to test different types of cattle feed additives, aiming to inhibit methanogenesis – the production of a gas known as methane in the metabolism – amongst its herds.

Methane is a main component behind greenhouse gas emissions, a leading cause of climate change and global warming, a central focus of the Dairy Diaries series.

Cornell University officials announced in April a suite of respiration chambers that will allow researchers to measure all gas emissions from animals in a controlled environment, and support research that aims to make a more sustainable and productive dairy industry globally through methane reduction.

Although the Becks described her as a “city mouse plopped right into the middle of the country,” Bayer said that, although she didn’t get as much free ice cream as she’d hoped, she learned a lot from the experience, and thinks those viewing the documentary will as well.

For more information on the U.S. dairy community's programs and innovations, visit USDairy.com.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Freeville farm part of Dairy Diaries