The statuesque female marched up the aisle, a coronet of flowers wreathing her head. She was clearly proud to stand up in the wedding of Lucas Ayars, the youngest son of Bonnie (‘73 Family and Consumer Sciences) and John Ayars (’65 Agricultural Education, Ohio State).
The female in question was, of course, a cow--a Guernsey cow and the namesake of the Ayars Family Farm specialty, Genuine Vanilla ice cream.
“The first thing Lucas said after ‘I’m getting married’ was that the matriarch of the farm had to be in the wedding,” Bonnie said with a laugh. “Genuine was Lucas’ 4-H project and is now 15. She had more of her hair done for the wedding than I did. She was a product in the early days of the bovine embryo transfer process. Many women today are having babies thanks to this research.”
The presence of a cow at Lucas’ wedding testified to the importance that cows play in the lives of the Ayars family at their farm near Mechanicsburg, Ohio. In fact, Bonnie, who was born and raised on an Ohio dairy farm, said she would never have earned a degree from Ohio State if not for a cow, plus some influential people on campus.
“I was a 4-H kid. I sewed and had a dairy cow project,” she explained. “Gigi was a really good cow, and when I sold her, she gave me the income to come to Ohio State.”
Bonnie names some key people who also ensured that she graduated from Ohio State. To this day, she attributes her success to the deans of two colleges, the late Lena Bailey and Roy Kottman, and faculty members Janet Laster and the late Bea Cleveland.
Ayars has the greatest respect for her mentors. “They took a little kid from a rural background and shaped my life in unbelievable ways. I really get teary eyes when I think about them.”
Education permeates all she does
Over the years, Bonnie has taught family and consumer sciences at two middle schools, a high school and a vocational school. She was the advisor to each school’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) organization.
Ultimately, she became a family and consumer sciences consultant and FCCLA adviser for the Ohio Department of Education.
Today, she teaches dairy cattle judging and evaluation for Ohio State and coordinates the 4-H dairy programs in the state. As coach of Ohio State’s collegiate dairy judging team, she is one of only two women in the U.S. in this role.
The farm is a more than a working dairy. In today’s society, it also serves as a teaching tool. After seating one-too-many groups under the trees following their farm tour, John Ayars said he wanted a gathering place with a roof and chairs.
Now at the farm’s event center, the Ayars can host up to 150 people in comfort. They welcome school and church tours, family reunions, football parties, Christmas and birthday parties, weddings, 4-H meetings, OSU Extension events and breeder association get-togethers.
“I tell people, ‘Let us know what content standards you would like to match, and we’ll come up with the content,’” Bonnie said. “We like creating teaching and activities around what you need because the farm can be a lesson for anything.” Of course, ice cream is always available at the end, instead of a test.
Hand care and cleanliness
To ensure health for consumers and cows, the entire farm is kept scrupulously clean. In the free stall barn, the cows may roam an open area or lie down in comfortable, bedded stalls.
The floors are scraped clean six times daily. The cows eat whenever they like, so the feed is pushed up six times or more daily to keep it within reach. These cows are among the many that produce the Ayars’ daily milk.
For the golden Guernseys whose milk becomes ice cream, as well as the pregnant cows waiting to calve, the weaned youngsters and the geriatric cows, their daily care is the mission of everyone at the farm. “Our cows get a lot of hand care,” Bonnie explained, “and they respond in kind.”
Reminding us all that food comes from farms
The Ayars invest a great deal of time in talking to people about the farm and agriculture. They take their teaching to public venues such as the Ohio State Fair, where they haven’t missed being exhibitors in over 50 years.
They provide all the cows for the milk-a-cow and calving pens, and Bonnie and her Ohio State students run the milking parlor where fair visitors can ask questions as they see cows milked. For this and more, the Ayars are in the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame.
“The public needs to be more informed about our lifestyle with the most accurate information,” Bonnie said. “In the end, our farm’s goal is to explain why we do what we do every day of the year, regardless of Mother Nature and holidays.”
