Cows are referred to as the foster mothers of the human race because they produce most of the milk that people drink.

Around 9.2 million cows are being milked on 110,000 farms in the United States . More than 99% of all dairy farms are family owned and operated.

Cows are milked for an average of 3-4 years.

A cow must have a calf in order to produce milk.

The average cow is 2 years old when she has her first calf.

Gail Borden invented the condensed milk process in 1856

The first pasteurizing machine was introduced in 1895

Cows have 32 teeth which include: 8 incisors on the bottom front, 6 molars on the top and bottom of each side, and a tough pad of skin instead of teeth on the top front

Cows drink about a bathtub full of water and eat around 40 pounds of food a day.

Breeds of U.S. Dairy Cattle

Holstein 95.2%

Jersey 3.8%

Brown Swiss 0.4%

Guernsey 0.3%

Ayrshire 0.2%

There are an estimated 920 different breeds of cows in the world

Cows can see color

Wisconsin has the most dairy cows, Texas the most beef cows

There are approximately 350 "squirts" in a gallon of milk

A young female cow is called a heifer.

Before milking machines were invented in 1894, farmers could only milk about 6 cows per hour. Today, farmers use machines to milk more than 100 cows per hour.

Cows are ruminants, which are cud chewing mammals, similar to sheeps and camels.

A cow chews her cud (regurgitated, partially digested food) for up to 8 hours each day.

Dairy cows provide 90% of the world's milk supply. On average, a dairy cow produces 10 gallons of milk each day, the best cows give over 25 gallons of milk each day. That's 400 glasses of milk!

U.S. cows give an average of 2,000 gallons of milk per year. That's over 30,000 glasses of milk!

Cows came to America with Christopher Columbus

People first domesticated cows about 5000 years ago

The Holstein produces the most milk of all breeds

A dairy cow can produce 5 gallons of ice cream a day

Cows can live 25 years if people would let them

In an average herd, there is 1 bull to every 30 cows

A cow stands up and sits down about 15 times a day

A cow drinks about 30 gallons of water per day

Cows can detect odors up to five miles away

The age of a cow can be determined by counting the rings on its horns

The average cow weighs 1,200 lbs. (544.8 kg) and has a life span of 18 years, but 25-30 are possible.

All cattle have lots of muscle, which is the beef we eat in hamburger, hot dogs and other good foods. Two popular cattle breeds that are bred for beef are the red and white Hereford and the all-black Angus.

A cow grazes by curling her tongue around the grass and cutting it off with her lower teeth and a slight upward movement of her head. She will eat about 100 lbs. of grass a day.

The average cow can eat about 35 lbs. of good hay a day.

The average cow produces 3.5 gallons of urine daily.

The average cow produces 65 lbs. of poop or manure daily and can can poop up to 15 times a day.

The body temperature of a cow is 101.5 degrees Farenheit (38.6 degrees Celsius).

The average American eats about 110 lbs. of beef per year. On average, a 900 lb. steer produces about 450 lbs. of meat (or 50% of its body weight).

After cows are slaughtered, their bones may be dried and ground for use as a calcium source in poultry or other livestock feed, or as a fertilizer.

Leather is the tanned hide (skin) of an animal. A cow's hide makes good leather for shoes, belts, coats and upholstery because it's so thick.

Cheese - The average American eats 1,000 lbs. (454 kg) of cheese in a lifetime. It takes 10 lbs. of whole milk to make 1 lb. of cheese.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes known as "mad cow" disease, is a disease of cattle first identified in 1986.

A healthy Holstein calf weighs 90 pounds or more at birth. A mature Holstein cow weighs about 1500 pounds and stand 58 inches tall at the shoulder.

Average production for all Holsteins enrolled in official U.S. production-testing programs in 1987 was 17,408 pounds of milk, 632 pounds of butterfat and 550 pounds of protein per year.

A male cow is a steer or bull and is not a cow.

Pasteurized milk kept in a closed container under refrigeration will remain good for about 14 days.

The world's biggest Holstein statue is in New Salem, North Dakota.

Holsteins are black and white, and each has a unique pattern.