This column was written by Doug Johnson (pictured at right), who can be reached at: djohnson@modernmachinery.com A snowstorm on a southern Idaho dairy farm – with thousands of cows needing feed and a way to it – is no place for a wheel loader to stop working. Today’s dairyman also can’t afford a machine that operates poorly. So imagine the benefits of a system that can tell you precisely, and in real-time, what’s going on, or going wrong, with your key equipment.

TRENDING TOPIC ARTICLE: COW COMFORT This article was originally published February 28, 2011 and featured in March 1, 2011 Extra e-newsletter: http://bit.ly/030111_PDExtra. to jump to the article below. Progressive Dairyman asked three industry experts, “What do you think is the most often missed symptom of stray voltage? Their responses were: “An increase in the number of animals in the hospital barn,” Jacques Dion of Agrivolt “How cows drink water; if the cows tend to lap, or dip, to get water, there is a strong possibility of a stray voltage problem,” Jerry Lush of Stray Voltage Consulting “Subtle changes in animal behavior; we are often too willing to ignore small indications until it causes severe behavioral change – this is obviously too late,” Chuck Untiedt, dairy farmer, Udder Chaos Inc.

This article was #2 in PDmag's Top 5 most-well read New Technology articles in 2011. to jump to the article. Summary: Engineers at Promat Inc., based in Canada, used scientific real-time digital pressure point body-mapping technology to develop an advanced new gel mattress. The goal was to develop a mattress that provided the benefits of sand bedding without the challenges, explained General Manager Andy Jenkins. Because this article was so popular, we asked Jenkins some follow-up questions: Q: What type of interest have you received? How do you quantify that interest? A: The interest in the introduction of the Pasture Gel Mat has been outstanding. We are thrilled with the number of dairymen that have contacted us and our dealer network about the product. At this point we have only made these mats available to the North American market and we haven’t been able to keep up to the demand.

Stray voltage, or “leakage current” as we prefer to call it, is an issue becoming more prevalent in the dairy industry. As our industry utilizes more electronic equipment that increases the efficiency of our operations and reduces operating costs, such as variable speed drives (VSDs), electronic ballast lighting, variable speed fans and ventilation, we are actually increasing the sources of possible stray voltage. Faulty wiring, defective equipment, bad connections and electrical arcs are also sources that may cause stray voltage on a facility at any time.