Progressive Dairy

Milking parlors: One size does not fit all

October 31, 2013

There are many things to consider when building a new parlor. A dairyman needs to look at the size of the milking parlor he wants to build, how many cows he will milk and the amount of time he is willing to spend milking.

Air curtains find many uses on farms

October 31, 2013

Michael Farber

Farms may have the most diverse list of air curtain (or air door) uses than perhaps any other application. First used decades ago in industrial buildings for indoor-outdoor environmental separation at open doorways, air curtains on farms today are used for energy conservation, flying insect prevention, employee and livestock air comfort, productivity increases, supplemental heating and cooling, ventilation and other uses.

Remove the guesswork from reproduction

October 31, 2013

Shane St Cyr

With an annual pregnancy rate of 21 percent, the herd at D&D Dairy near Rushford, Minnesota, significantly exceeded the industry average for reproductive performance. But co-owner Dean Smith knew the dairy could do better.

FFA research project affirms family’s automatic milking decision

October 31, 2013

Shawna Weller

People make choices every day, and sometimes you just have to hope you make the right decision. For my family farm, Weller’s Dairy, we definitely made the right choice. We have a small, family-owned and operated dairy farm.

Thinking about buying robots? Talk money, strategies first

October 31, 2013

Francisco Rodriguez

There have been many discussions about the economics of robotic milking systems, many of them even questioning their profitability and viability.

Automatic feeding systems deliver more feedings, less labor

October 31, 2013

Karen Lee

Robots are milking cows, pushing up feed and scraping manure on dairies around the world. For several years, they have been feeding cows in Europe, and now three companies have plans to introduce similar, yet different, systems in North America.

CIP detectives face case of the unrelenting bacteria counts

October 31, 2013

Ron Robinson

There is nothing more frustrating than persistent high bacteria counts. The CIP detectives were recently called to a 249-cow dairy in Wisconsin facing just this problem.

JH1 haplotype – A marker for infertility in the Jersey breed

October 31, 2013

Kelly M. Buchanan, Peter J. Hansen, and Tad Sonstegard

Over the past 60 or so years, fertility has declined in all of the major dairy breeds, including the Jersey. The historical drop in fertility has been ascribed to a variety of factors such as an increase in milk yield, changes in management and herd structure, inbreeding and lack of selection for reproduction.

Sexed semen: How should you use it on your dairy?

October 31, 2013

Chrissy Meyer and Nate Zwald

Everyone wants enough replacement heifers to maintain or even grow their herd size. Producers have achieved this goal with relative ease throughout the past 20 years. While the trend during that time has shown a decline in the number of U.S. dairy cows, the heifer population has remained fairly constant. This means the heifer population as a percentage of the total cow population has been on the rise.

Customizing to meet your needs

October 31, 2013

Tim Fargo

When you set out on a trip, it’s usually a good idea to know where you are going. When it comes to breeding cows, the same theory applies. Without knowing where you are going, how you are going to get there, or being afraid to ask for help can end up having you breeding in circles.