Not long ago, Kent Hoffman’s morning routine included milking 580 cows in a step-up parlor. Today, he watches an automated arm attach the units on his 40-stall robotic rotary.

No one wants to spend more time than they have to cleaning fans in their barn. Yet, we all know that fans need to be cleaned. Here are some tips and tricks to make cleaning your fans and other ventilation equipment go as smoothly as possible.

Every dairy producer wonders how much they dare overcrowd the freestall barn. When asked that question, I usually respond that they can go 15 percent over for a two-row pen and 5 percent over for a three-row pen. However, I do realize that’s likely the wrong answer for almost everyone.

Robotic milking was first adopted in the U.S. on a dairy farm in Wisconsin in 2000. Nearly 20 years later, the vast concentration of automated milking systems in this country remains north of the 40th parallel – the latitude line that runs across the U.S. and is marked by Kansas’ northern border – while very few systems can be found in the southern U.S.

While rotary parlors have become a predominant choice for milking large herds, rotaries are not a new idea. They date back to the unveiling of the Rotolactor at the 1930 World’s Fair. Many variations of rotary milking environments have been brought to market since then.

Fear and trepidation is normal when searching for used equipment. If only we had supernatural powers to see and know where trouble may lie.… Since we do not have such powers, a systematic examination of the used piece of equipment can help you locate problems which might otherwise be overlooked.

One of the biggest challenges hay producers have always faced is hitting that perfect moisture window. Forage analysis supports what many producers have known for a long time – minimizing the time hay lies in the field improves relative feed value (RFV).

Looking to get more data from the milking parlor, the owners of Rosy-Lane Holsteins LLC purchased a monitoring system from Afimilk with plans to monitor daily milk weights to watch fresh cows and identify sick cows faster.

Ask any dairy producer what their number one expense is, and they’re likely to say, “feed.” The average 800-cow dairy farm spends more than $150,000 on feed each month and over $1.8 million every year.

I really enjoy studying cars. Most cars that really appeal to me are way beyond my price range. Adding to this addiction is the fact we live in a time where I can actually buy any car I see … I just can’t afford to pay for it.