BOTTOM LINE THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 SECTION E
Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
Showerheads effectively cool cows
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airy cows in almost every region of the world deal with heat stress at some point. At Rosy-Lane Holsteins near Watertown, Wisconsin, the farm has made improvements throughout the years to help the cows beat the heat. Ten years after building a naturally venJENNIFER tilated freestall barn with fans VAN OS over the stalls, the dairy built a mechanically cross-ventilated barn. Baffles push fast-moving air down to cow level. Ensuring fast airspeeds reach where cows are lying down is important to promote adequate rest. Farm partners Jordan Matthews and Lloyd Holterman said the cross-ventilated barn provided a more-comfortable environment for the cows. They put their earlier-lactation best-producing cows there. Those cows are more vulnerable to heat stress because they generate so much body heat while producing milk. My animal-welfare research group includes Rekia Salter and Kim Reuscher, graduate students in dairy science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They wanted to help the farm owners discover whether the strategy was working as intended. We teamed with Mario Mondaca, an engineer with Nigel Cook’s team at The Dairyland Initiative, to assess the barns and cow responses. The cross-ventilated barn is working well overall. At the same level of temperature-humidity index, cows in that barn tended to have lesser respiration rates than those in the naturally ventilated barn where airspeeds in the stalls were more inconsistent. Nonetheless on the warmest days respiration rates were elevated for cows in both barns. There’s no precise heat-stress
averaged 161,000 throughout a study this past August. The benefits of the showers for rapidly cooling cows was readily apparent. Immediately after showers the respiration rate was reduced on average by 10 breaths per minute. The difference in respiration rates when cows were showered versus not showered was especially noticeable on the hottest days when the cows needed the most help staying cool. A potential concern about soaking cows only at milking times is that body temperature may not stay suppressed for the entire time between milkings. But in looking at the data, cow core-body temperature was already in the normal range – from 100.4 to 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit – 99 percent of the time before milking. That told us the ventilation systems in the barns and holding pen played an imCONTRIBUTED PHOTOS portant role in helping the cows In warm weather, cows receive brief high-volume showers while they are milked in the parlor at Rosy-Lane Holsteins. dissipate heat. The showers in the parlor were an added benefit to help the cows not need to while they are being milked. The showers use about 3 gallons work as hard in coping with heat stress. per minute. They are turned After relaying those findings on only after the milking claw to the partners at Rosy-Lane, is attached on the final cow in that side of the double-12 parlor. we presented our results at the Regular, left, and infrared photos That ensures water isn’t already American Dairy Science Assoshow a cow’s udder after she spraying when cows enter, which ciation meeting in Cincinnati, was soaked with a shower during could cause them to balk. It also Ohio. Recently the U.S. Departmilking. Her legs became wet, as ment of Agriculture awarded our ensures the spray doesn’t enter shown by the purple, cooler regions, the teat cups while they are beresearch team a grant to gather An infrared photograph of a cow but her udder remained dry. data on ventilation performance ing attached. following soaking from a shower across more farms and create a A common question about shows green and blue regions, training program. The goal is for soaking cows in the parlor is negative eff ects include elevated which indicate cooler temperatures. others in the industry to learn whether that increases the risk The yellow and red regions indicate core-body temperature as well to use our method for providing of mastitis if the teat ends beas depressed feed intake and warmer areas. customized feedback to improve come wet. Before and after the milk yield. But soaking cows at ventilation and cooling perforcows were showered, we examthe feed bunk or in the holding threshold for respiration rate. mance. Contact jvanos@wisc. ined the backs of their udders pen inevitably leads to water But at 60 breaths per minute for wetness. We took digital and edu if interested in the project. it’s clear that additional cooling waste, because individual-cow presence under the nozzles var- infrared photographs. After the would help cows cope better. Jennifer Van Os is an assistant showers the udders remained ies. At Rosy-Lane an additional professor and University of Wiscondry in four out of every five inThe Rosy-Lane partners cooling strategy is implemented sin-Division of Extension specialist stances. When we did observe at milking time. It’s well-known worked with their plumber to in animal welfare in the departthat high-volume low-pressure run recycled water from the plate wetness, we classified the drip patterns. We rarely saw streams ment of dairy science at UW-Madcooler to the parlor, where insoaking of cows can be effecison. Email jvanos@wisc.edu to dividual showerheads over each of water reach the milking cups tive for alleviating the negative or the teats. Somatic-cell count reach her. milking stall soak cows briefly effects of heat stress. Those
Diversify Dairy Manager Institute debuts rotations, increase manure spreading
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raditional manure-spreading periods in spring and fall can present challenges when adverse weather strikes. Most of Wisconsin received excessive precipitation this spring and in fall 2018. As a result most farmers struggled to spread manure on cropland for this growing season. For those relying ERIC on custom COOLEY manure haulers, weather challenges present scheduling difficulties. Everyone wants manure spread when conditions are optimal. Incorporating winter wheat into dairy-crop rotations can provide manure-spreading opportunities in the summer. That’s when soil conditions are ideal and custom-hauler schedules are more open. In typical corn-soybean-alfalfa rotations, manure applications are often limited in the fall because of wet conditions. Alfalfa does provide in-season spreading opportunities after cuttings. But there can be issues with crop damage, manure-borne pathogens, palatability and soil-phosphorus accumulation. Incorporating
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Please see COOLEY, Page E2
For dairy managers whose responsibilities are shifting from cow management to human management, the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin developed PDPW Dairy Managers Institute™. The program is designed to equip attendees with a broad range of tools to manage, engage and develop high-performing
teams. It will be held Aug. 13-14 in Madison, Wisconsin. A follow-up session Dec. 10 will assess progress made and revisit assignments given throughout the program. Participants will learn techniques to deal with change, delegate responsibilities and communicate more effectively. They will
discover their strengths and weaknesses as leaders. They’ll also learn strategies to increase productivity, decrease employee turnover, enhance cooperation, discover the talents of team members and develop skills to work cohesively with team members. The program is built around practical appli-
cation, real-life experiences and group interaction. Class size is limited; pre-registration is required
to attend. Visit www.pdpw. org or contact mail@pdpw. org or 800-947-7379 for more information.
“…like a missing piece. I was impressed.” — Bob Keefer
Bob Keefer with grandson Nick (2017)
Quality Udders Make Quality Milk
Keep the milk in the system
HARD EARNED ACRES Bob and Barb Keefer SHIPPENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
1.888.773.7153 1.613.652.9086 uddercomfort.com
700 cows, 92 lbs/ cow/day
Call to locate a distributor near you.
SCC 100 to 120,000
For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
2017 Pennsylvania Master Farmer
“We try to do a lot of things right and always look to improve. When we began using Udder Comfort™ on our fresh cows in 2017, I was impressed. “Two months in, we saw SCC moving lower. Five months in, our counts were down by 70,000. Udder irritation was gone. Production had come up a bit, and we weren’t noticing mastitis in our fresh cows, with virtually no discarded milk. Udder Comfort was about the only thing we added,” says Bob Keefer, Hard Earned Acres, Shippensburg, Pa. Bob’s attention to detail is evident, growing internally since 1985 from 30 cows to 700 with a 92-lb average. (https://wp.me/pb1wH7-27) “Udder Comfort is like a missing piece,” he says, spraying fresh udders 2x/day for 5 days after calving. “This helps with our quality and volume. Our SCC has never been lower, 100 to 120,000. We keep using it because it’s worth it.”