Rotary parlors are becoming firmly entrenched in the industry and may be the optimal choice for large dairies that milk more than 2,000 cows. However, should you consider one for your future, regardless of herd size?

Planning for expansion can feel overwhelming. Producers have to think through many decision points, including whether to retrofit or build new, what size to grow to and which milking equipment to choose.

By implementing lean principles on their 1,000-cow dairy, Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle, New York, saw an increase in milk per man per hour from 500 pounds to nearly 800 pounds in the past seven years.

Robotic milking machines have been in the U.S. for about a decade. When they were first introduced, people wondered: Do they actually work? Are they just a fad? Are they cost-effective? Are they just for small dairies?

When Kiefland Holsteins in Utica, Minnesota, installed an automatic milking system in 2011, not only did the farm benefit from the reduced labor requirements – but also the steady supply of data generated by the equipment.

From udder health to employee management, the technologies in Daybreak Dairy’s milking parlor are making a difference.

At Sunnyside Farms in Scipio Center, New York, the focus has always been on growing the herd size but doing so in a cost-efficient way.

Three cooperative representatives participated in a milk quality panel discussion at the 2015 National Mastitis Council Regional Meeting this past July in Syracuse, New York.

Let’s agree that not all mastitis infections are created equal. Some infections are more severe than others and actually make the cow sick, while others result in only a few flakes or clots in the milk that are difficult for technicians to detect.

B vitamin supplementation is often not considered in many dairy cow diet formulations. Despite the importance of these nutrients in animal metabolism, it is still believed that their supplementation to ruminants is not required due to adequate supply from the diet and ruminal synthesis.