When you are looking to design a new facility, or modify an existing one, it’s not as simple as just picking option A or option B. It’s critical to approach each project with animal management top of mind because any system you choose will affect not only your animals, but the facility layout, work routines and your labor requirements.

Tucked away in a pleasant little valley on the outskirts of Westminster, Maryland, a little old barn has found a big new purpose.

One of the hardest-working parts of a compact track loader is its undercarriage. However, in order for the moving components to function properly, the undercarriage must be maintained and kept clean.

Two years ago, Curtis Nolan was sure renovating the milking parlor was the next step for Kenyon Hill Farm, his family’s dairy in northeastern New York, which is operated by Nolan; his dad, Mike; and his brothers, Shane and Ryan.

LEDs have come a long way in the past decade and have established themselves as mainstream lighting technology. Early LED lights could be unreliable and expensive, and some dairies were skeptical about the new lighting’s effect on herd health and milk production.

Taylor Clifford and Eric Bogardus decided it was time to get creative when their already decrepit barn cleaner finally gave up the ghost, and shelling out money for a new one just wasn’t in the budget.

Most tractor operators know proper ballasting is important to transfer as much engine power as possible to the drawbar. Exactly how to accomplish this ballasting, however, frequently remains a mystery. Too little weight or ballast results in excessive drive-wheel slippage and an obvious waste of fuel.

The year 1930 had more than its share of low points as the first full year of the Great Depression; however, it wasn’t all bad. History was made Nov. 13, 1930, when Borden Company unveiled the first rotary parlor.

How clean is your kitchen? The cleanliness of your kitchen is likely the furthest thing from your mind when you think about cleaning stalls for your dairy cows, but the two areas have a few things in common.

Forage quality doesn’t increase after harvest, so what methods will ensure haylage yields are of optimum use to animals?