Coronado Dairy recently invited the community to enjoy free burgers and ice cream while teaching guests about dairy products.

“It’s just a way to get them here to see what the dairy’s all about and what we produce,” site manager Jason Nichols said. “I think it’s an important part of the community here. We have 112 employees as well as we do work with outside vendors. It’s important for Arizona G&T Cooperatives to provide electricity for us. It makes it possible for us to be here. For one, I mean, we have all of our shops, our parlor, our pumps out in the field for our farming are electric, and our pivots depend on electricity.”

The dairy has 6,500 milking cows plus 55,000 other cows used for breeding and other purposes, Nichols said in a statement on the G&T Cooperatives website. He also said the dairy depends heavily on electricity.

“This is a big deal,” Jim Ellison, a dairy visitor, said. “We were quite surprised to hear they milk 6,500 cows a day here.”

Electrical cooperatives are an important part of the region, both for providing electricity and employment options.

“It offers a lot of opportunity for people that, you just wouldn’t have it, I don’t think, if it wasn’t for you folks,” Ellison said. “We’re really happy that Arizona G&T Cooperatives is in this area.”