MERIDIAN — So many cows and so much cheese and milk.

Victoria Toth had to get her shoes dirty to do it, but she learned about the dairy industry and farming career opportunities on Friday morning.

“This is amazing,” said the Kuna Middle School seventh grader as she snapped photos of goats, calves and a llama. “The animals are so cute and I just love milk.”

Victoria joined nearly 600 kids and parents Friday for the third annual Dairy West Jackson Family Farm tour in celebration of dairy month. Kids were given a hands-on learning experience about the inner workings of the farm.

The best part for Victoria was the free chocolate milk, ice cream and pizza.

“It is important to connect people to where their food comes from,” said Karianne Fallow, the CEO of Dairy West. “People are more distant from farming than they have ever been before and this opportunity allows us to help build trust in the dairy farmer.”

Jackson Family Farm is in south Meridian and has been operating for 65 years. The farm has nearly 250 cows, horses, goats and a llama. Jackson Family Farm produces about 10,000 pounds of milk per day and is part of Darigold, a farmer-owned cooperative that produces and markets dairy products.

Clint Jackson runs the dairy and gave hayride tours throughout the day explaining the process of running a dairy farm.

“As we like to call it, the Manure Tour,” Jackson said.

Jackson explained the types of cows on the farm, the production and feeding process and what it takes to grow crops.