CASTRO COUNTY, Texas – The aroma of cow manure rode the spring breeze, as it always does in this stretch of Texas panhandle, where the wind lifts an endless fog of microscopic particles that infuse every mile with an earthy scent, the smell of business.
As dusk descended on the South Fork Dairy on April 10, workers busied themselves with the evening shift. Some refilled hay bins. Others checked on pregnant cows or hosed down equipment.
Extracting 24 semi-truck loads of milk from 17,500 cows daily requires a round-the-clock operation, but the crew would not be hindered by the gathering dusk. Much of this farm’s operation was indoors.
