The question of whether or not human resource (HR) management is needed is not unique to dairies; in fact, it’s not unique to any industry. It is a question which is relevant for any small business anywhere, and the answer is both yes and no. In small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, it’s unlikely you could keep an HR person busy full-time. However, regardless of how many employees you have, incorporating some HR management strategies proactively can really pay off over time.

The milking unit fall-off test measures the change in vacuum that occurs in a milking system to simulate what happens when a unit falls off a cow. It is an indication of the adequacy of the effective vacuum reserve or the margin capacity of the system. The change in vacuum when one unit in 12 is sucking air should be less than 0.6 inches of mercury. If it fails, then a unit falling off will cause a drop in the vacuum that affects the rest of the units, allowing them to squawk or even fall off. Vacuum margin is essential.

Summer is here and the cows are getting hot. Our dairy cows are large fermentation vats on legs, and they generate a lot of heat. The thermoneutral zone for an adult dairy cow is typically in the range of 40 to 70ºF, and cows suffer heat stress above the upper critical temperature – before most humans become bothered by heat.

Did you know that even if your farm is located in Canada or the northern U.S., heat stress will negatively impact your farm profitability? Although many dairy herds are in a higher northern parallel, they are suffering from high temperature and humidity during summer months.

Case studies are often the best way to communicate how management and facility factors affect various outcomes on individual dairies. Detailed below are two case studies from dairies in the Midwestern U.S. that act as great examples of how management plays a large role in cow comfort.

Dairy cattle face numerous sources of stress, expected and unexpected, throughout their life cycle. One of the most predictable is heat stress, which can compromise cow health and production, both of which can have a significant economic impact on the profitability of a dairy. The effects of heat stress are estimated to cost the dairy industry up to $1.5 billion annually. Primary economic losses may include lower milk yields, reduced reproductive efficiency and even death.

Whether it’s natural or mechanical, barn ventilation is imperative when it comes to the welfare of dairy cattle. However, ventilation alone does not always provide the necessary air movement for cooling and comfort needs. Animals can intrinsically demonstrate their comfort levels simply by their eating habits, conception rates and milk production. Without a cooling breeze, the simple ventilation designed into a building isn’t enough.

Cow cooling is not just about fans and sprinklers. Science, technology and even genetics can all be part of a dairy’s heat-abatement strategy. Earlier this year, industry leaders traveled around Puerto Rico and the U.S. with the Heat Stress Road Show.

University of Wisconsin – Madison Professor and Department of Dairy Science Chair Dr. Kent Weigel believes a trait for improving feed efficiency will be “the next frontier of genetic selection in dairy cattle.” Weigel recently addressed this topic at the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference in Dubuque, Iowa, and he is on the docket for the upcoming World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production set for Vancouver in August.