Sleeping with the cows at New Day Dairy

It’s one of Iowa’s most unique overnight stays – sleeping with the cows at the New Day Dairy Guest Barn in Clarksville, Iowa. Ok, you don’t literally sleep with the cows, but you get to stay in the guest barn which has access to see into the dairy barn. You’ll also have two tours to experience life on a dairy farm, one when you arrive and a farewell tour as you depart.

Location: 31000 175th St, Clarksville, IA 50619
Website: https://www.newdaydairy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newdaydairy/

This trip was hosted by New Day Dairy Guest Barn. The opinions are our own.

Our favorite location was the cow gazing room on the second floor, with two large windows allowing you to look into the barn. We found ourselves going to windows to “check on the cows” at all times of the day.

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Why you should add New Day Dairy Guest Barn to your bucket list!

It’s as authentic of an Iowaish experience as you can get. See what it’s like working and living on a dairy farm, get a chance to ask all the questions about how the farm operates. Each stay comes with two tours of the farm and there are opportunities for an extended experience. Many of the visitors include:

Families – Looking to give your kids a farm experience, so they can see how a dairy farm operates.
Multi-Generation visitors – For example, I took my Dad with me on the visit, as he worked on dairy farm as a teenager and also worked on John Deere for a number of years, so we added the John Deere museum to our agenda. It’s common to see multi-generation families that visit the farm together.
City Slickers – maybe you’ve lived in Iowa your whole life, but have never experienced a working farm.
Iowa Newbies – Those traveling across the US and wanting a real-life farm visit.

What to expect at the New Day Dairy Guest Barn

For most Iowans, it’s pretty self explanatory, but just in case, be aware that:

It’s located on a gravel road. Yes, most Iowans are aware that a majority of farms are located on gravel roads, but just to make sure we’re clear, its about a 3 mile drive on gravel to get to the New Day Dairy Farm.
This is a working farm. So there is a smell that comes with all working farms. Again, this is another obvious fact for Iowans, but it’s better to clarify.

Here are some of the not-so obvious things to expect with visiting New Day Dairy

Music is playing around the clock. Yes, dairy farmers tend to play music around the clock and its not just for themselves, cows love music as well. In fact, during the tour you might notice that there’s a barn piano and a guitar, as Dan also loves to play music for the cows.
All cows have a name. And Dairy Farmer Dan knows them all by name.
Calves are born year-round and if a calf is born during your stay, you get to name the calf!
Each cow gets to decide when they want to eat, when they want to sleep, and even when they want to be milked!

Did you know that each cow has its own personality? Many of the cows are curious and will come to you to seek out head scratches!

What to expect during the tour at New Dairy Farm

With your overnight stay, you get two tours: the intro and the farewell tour.

Introductory Farm Tour:

First order of business – proper farm footwear. You’ll have two options: either borrow a pair of boots from them or use plastic covers that go over your footwear.
They discuss where you can wander on the farm and where you can not. It’s a working farm and there are areas where you need a tour guide.
Your initial walk in the barn is typically filled with lots of questions and the tour guides (the owners, the Bolins) are great at addressing your questions.
Visit Rita the Robot. Rita can handle up to two cows at a time and handles all the milking operations 24 hours a day. You’ll discover that the cows can walk up to Rita on their own when they are ready to be milked. Most cows visit Rita twice a day, although some visit as many as 4 or 5 times a day.

Farewell Tour:

Visit the barn to check on the cows again, and answer any new questions you have about the farm.
Visit the calves, including the infants and the “preschool” area.

Cows get in line to visit Rita the robot. Rita handles their milking needs 24 hours a day. As they enter, Rita reads their RFID tag, so it knows which cow is visiting. This is used by the robot to make sure that it places the milkers properly on the cows udders and it is also used to track progress and productivity of each cow.

Dairy Man Dan explains how Rita the Robot works. As you take the tour, you’ll notice that Dan is frequently checking his phone – and he’s not looking at Instagram. Instead, he’s checking with Rita as she reports on how productivity is going, any potential problems, as well as which ladies haven’t checked in with Rita yet.

What is the “Be a Dairy Farmer Challenge”? What does that include?

It’s an additional tour that can be purchased for a group of four that puts you directly in the footsteps of Dairy Man Dan. Here are some of the tasks you’ll experience in the “Be a Dairy Farmer Challenge”:

Milk a cow by hand
Shovel manure
Walk through the barn and give head scratches to the cows as they approach you
Feed the calves
Ride in a tractor

When you complete the challenge, you’ll receive a special t-shirt that designates you as successfully completing the dairy farmer challenge.

Dan Bolin will be your tour guide for the “Be a Dairy Farmer Challenge”. First thing you’ll notice is that Dan knows his ladies well – all 120 or so by name.

While visiting Rita the Robot, Dan will turn the robot off, which provides you with a safe opportunity to milk a cow by hand.

As you walk in the barn, you’ll find the cows are quite curious and will walk over to check you out – and many will want head scratches.

Grab a shovel, it’s your turn to scoop. Most areas of the barn are cleared every two hours. In fact, some areas are cleared by an automated system that runs every few hours.

Visiting the calves is another highlight. Many of the calves are only a few days old, but there’s also the “preschool” area where older calves are placed in small groups.

One of the last items on the tour is to take a ride in a tractor around the farm.

Lynn Bolin showing the t-shirt that you’ll receive a t-shirt saying after you complete the challenge, which states, “I walked in Dairy Man Dan’s boots at New Day Dairy”

Amazing A-cow-modations

Although the cows don’t get air conditioning or heating, you do. Don’t worry, you’re not living in a barn, you have some great a-cow-modations. Your living space allows you to see the cows – but you don’t hear them. It’s a two-story rental connected by stairs (no elevator). Here’s the full rundown on the space:

First-floor spaces include:

KITCHEN: Open the full size fridge for your first big surprise – it’s stocked with plenty of milk and numerous other breakfast items for your visit. There’s also a full size stove and microwave along with all the necessary kitchen ware and utensils.

LIVING ROOM / DINING ROOM: Contains table and chairs, along with endless decorations related to cows, dairy, ag, and Iowa. The owner mentioned that a young girl staying at the barn once counted the number of cow-related decorations, they didn’t remember the number, but I’m sure it took the young girl several hours to tally.

LIVING ROOM / DINING ROOM: To the side of the kitchen table (right side of this picture) is another chair, a couch, and a wall with gift shop items available for purchase. There’s also a map of the USA, grab a pin and add the location that you’re visiting from!

BEDROOM #1 on the first floor: Contains a queen bed and has its own bathroom with shower.

BEDROOM #2 on the first floor: Contains two twin beds and its own bathroom with a shower.

BEDROOM #3 resides on the 2nd floor and also has its own bathroom with shower.

SMALLER LIVING ROOM SPACE on the 2nd floor: Another couch, TV, and a collection of movies, books, and games. The board games even follow the dairy/ag theme, with games like Cow Pie Catapult, John Deereopoly, and other dairy/ag board games.

Our favorite room is the Cow Gazing Room which has two large windows that allow you to cow gaze 24/7. The walls are filled with information on the farm, specific cows, and details on how the farm operates. There’s also a collection of books and toys for children.

YouTube video — Here’s what is happening while you are sleeping. I set up a GoPro in the window which ran from 10pm to 1am.

How do I get the best price when making a reservation at New Day Dairy Guest Barn?

To get the best price, book with them directly at: https://www.newdaydairy.com/. Staying more than one night makes each night cheaper as the tour fee that’s included gets spread out over multiple days.

Besides touring the farm, what else is there to do?

During our visit, we took the laid-back approach and didn’t plan too much, we were looking to spend time together. If that’s your situation, you have the following onsite options:

Enjoyed sunset in their flower garden
Games – on the second floor they have a collection of toys and games available. Most of them are with the farm, dairy, or Iowa theme. Be sure to check out Cow Pie Catapult, definitely appropriate for this visit.
Walk along their private road
Star gazing at night, as well as a night walk along their private road.

At the end of our first day, we sat back and enjoyed a good Iowa sunset around the fire.

We visited during late June, when their wild raspberries and blackberries were coming in – and you’re welcome to walk the private lane and collect berries.

After supper, we enjoyed the fire table that sits in the flower garden.

Other nearby day excursions include:

Fossil collecting at Fossil & Prairie Center in Rockford, Iowa
Numerous sites in Cedar Falls and Waterloo including the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum and Lost Island Water Park and Theme Park.

What about food/dining options?

Your refrigerator is well stocked for DIY breakfast with milk, juices, fruit, yogurt, mini bagels, pastries. You are welcome bring other food options, as its a full fridge, full size stove, and a gas grill available outside. After you make reservations, they also provide you with a list of optional meal packages that you can add on. For example, we purchased an add on make it yourself pizza kits, so that we had something available for the night we arrived. Other food kits include: S’mores kits, Make homemade ice cream, and root beer floats. You are also welcome to head out to nearby Clarksville, Waverly, or Charles City for meals. Check the New Day Dairy website for a list of all extras available.

What was our itinerary while visiting the New Day Dairy Farm?

Day 1:

We arrived around 5pm and then took the introductory farm tour at 6pm. We had pre-ordered the pizza kits and after the tour we made pizzas after and watched sunset from their flower garden. And, of course, we had to check on the cows before going to bed, as ZOne (pronounced Z-One) was in the birthing pen, expecting a new born.

Day 2:

As we were eating breakfast, we stayed at the cow gazing windows, watching as ZOne gave birth to a new calf. Around lunch time, we left the farm and went to the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum in Waterloo, followed by lunch at Barn Happy in Cedar Falls. We returned to the farm around 4pm for our “Be a Dairy Farmer Challenge”. For supper, we went to the River Pub in Charles City. After returning, we did some star gazing along with a night walk along the private lane.

Day 3:

After breakfast, we did the farewell tour, which included a meeting the new calf that we saw being born yesterday morning. After packing the car, we went back to the cow gazing window one last time – and Wendy was giving birth to a new calf. Even though there was a calf born on each of the days we stayed, these specific calves were not staying on the farm, therefore they were not named.