How to determine your goals to make the best building decision for your situation Do I bulldoze my building and build new, or is there a way to make do with what I have?

Medeiros and Son Dairy used to pay more than $20,000 each month to provide electricity to their 2,450-cow dairy, but now a 1.1-megawatt solar array installation is providing 80 percent of their electrical needs.

Thanks to touchless ventilation and lighting technology borrowed from the swine and poultry industries, maintaining a consistent barn environment on one New York dairy is a breeze.

Dairying is labor-intensive. Probably the most labor-intensive sector of agriculture. Hours are long, vacations are rare, and you miss out on time with family and friends.

Milking systems are designed to collect milk effectively and efficiently, with the cow’s comfort in mind. Perhaps the most important, and often overlooked, part of the system is the teat cup liner.

With spring already here, that means summer is quickly approaching, and so is haying season. Now is the time to start thinking about pre-season maintenance and getting equipment out of winter storage.

First and foremost, dairies need to understand what restrictions there are in the milking parlor. A restriction is anything that impairs or constricts the milk path from the cow to the milk pipeline. This could be anything in the milk path.

How much does heat stress really cost? What’s the difference among sprinklers, misters and soakers? Which barn design will optimize ventilation efficiency?

Skid steer loaders and compact track loaders can be very versatile dairy tools, but with so many manufacturers and options, it can be difficult to figure out what machine really suits your operation best. Tires and tracks both have their advantages and disadvantages depending on the applications they will be used in.

Let’s look at what it takes to build the best barn for your operation, starting with understanding the basic concepts and the most common errors in barn design as well as other design options or technologies that will eliminate those errors and improve cow comfort.