In 1920, the school built a dairy barn, and 125 Holstein Jerseys were purchased. McDonogh’s most famous cow was Ormsby Inca Pontiac Girl. The 18-year-old cow set production records and earned national recognition for contributing 13,966 pounds of milk and 564 pounds of butterfat in a year.
According to former Headmaster Bob Lamborn ’35, in the early 1960s, state health officials ruled that the milk—produced by the school herd, pasteurized in the school dairy, and served in pitchers—did not meet state standards (although it never failed any state inspection). They required that the milk be sent to a plant and put in individual half-pint bottles for personal consumption. This made the milk more expensive than the milk available on the market. The budget could not handle it, so the program was discontinued and the herd dispersed.
