FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT

Technology. Innovation. Modernization. Change. Are these “scary” words for you?

As dairy producers, I’m sure you hear and read about all the new and innovative technologies available to you that will help improve profits, safety and time. But how many of these changes will truly generate a return on your investment?

The following is the first part of a two-part series of articles regarding freestall design and its impact on the cow’s comfort and health.

The dairy expansion era in North America, which gathered pace throughout the 1990’s and continues to this day, has resulted in the migration of dairy cattle from traditional tiestall and stanchion barns to the freestall facility, which has emerged as the dominant form of dairy cattle housing worldwide.

Proper maintenance and management of your tires can have far-reaching effects on your operation – from the performance of your equipment to the productivity of your fields. A few pounds of air pressure quickly find their way to your bottom line.

Well, summer is quickly approaching, which means more time out in the field operating agricultural equipment.

Although you may do many routine check-ups on your equipment, do you stop and think about your air conditioning system and what you are doing to help keep this system running properly?

Automatic milking systems, also called robotic milking machines, offer the potential to milk cows more frequently when compared with a conventional parlor system that must rely on hired or family labor. More frequent milking may in turn generate more milk when paired with consistent milking intervals.

Most of us remember the medical emergency system commercials from the 1990s with the elderly lady calling out “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

Would you ever receive these types of calls from within your freestall barns if your cows had some type of medical emergency system from which they could call you? Unfortunately, in many older freestall barns, these calls would probably be fairly frequent.