When you consider that milk is a dairy’s top revenue source, milking technicians have a huge impact on the operation’s profitability. If parlor performance lags or procedures drift, the entire enterprise may be at risk.

Pete Jones is the project manager for University of Idaho’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Idaho CAFE) currently under construction in Rupert. Ag Proud – Idaho’s Cassidy Woolsey caught up with Jones to learn more about what is soon-to-be the nation's largest research dairy, located right here in Idaho.

Rotary milking parlors are continually advancing, opening the door to a diverse range of auxiliary technologies that seamlessly integrate with precision milk harvesting and cow behavior monitoring systems. Designing a successful sort system can be extremely beneficial to dairy operations, especially when cow flow and space expectations are considered from the start.

Efficiency is the key to success in the dairy industry. There are never enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do, so maximizing those hours, minutes and even seconds is the hallmark of a good operation.

The first phase of construction of the University of Idaho-led Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Idaho CAFE) – comprising rough grading of open-lot corrals and dairy lagoons and construction of a 60-cow rotary milking parlor – is on pace to be completed by late September or early October.

It might seem counterintuitive to work on something that isn’t broken, but a small amount of effort can prevent major disruptions down the line. By dedicating a small amount of time to maintenance tasks now, you can avoid costly downtimes and ensure your dairy operation runs smoothly and efficiently.

Improved labor efficiency, employee retention and communication were among the benefits for two Pacific Northwest dairy farms that upgraded their milking parlors from the traditional herringbone and parallel models to a rotary and an automated milking system, respectively.

When it is time to consider new equipment or a new facility project, these three key principles will help provide clarity of purpose and ease of process.

Dairy farms, wherever they may be, have a combination of commonalities and distinctive features that make each one unique. In Europe, a dairy farmer shares what it’s like to farm compared to when he worked for a short period of time in Wisconsin.