Sitting in the Boise airport on my way home from our all-company meeting in August, I posted a status update to Facebook on all the fun activities we did and how it made me feel energized for the year to come. A dairy producer friend from Wisconsin noticed my comment about zip-lines, Hot Wheels races and sending an egg pilot safely down to earth and sent me a message asking, “Is there anything we as dairy farmers can use or learn from that experience that will help us with our employees, team or staff?”

The precision dairy farming field of technologies is booming with new innovations. With many options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which technologies are useful and how the investment can be justified.

The anaerobic digester system at Dallmann East River Dairy in Brillion, Wisconsin, does more than digest waste from the farm. A nutrient-recovery system after the digester not only helps to clean the biogas but also removes excess nitrates and converts them into a saleable fertilizer.

Raising heifers is a major cost to dairy operations. By bucking traditional methods and focusing on size instead of age, producers may see better returns. In a recent Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) webinar, Dr. Robert Corbett of Dairy Health Consultation offered six areas to focus on when it comes to boosting a heifer reproduction program.

Nowhere in my original plans for this issue are the words “robot” or “automatic,” yet when I page through this magazine I’m about to present to you, I find it weighs heavily on the topic.

I learned long ago you can’t time the news. In the magazine business, we try to plan out what we can. In fact, our schedule for 2014 has already been established. However, we also remain flexible to include timely information.

Editor’s note: This is the third and final article in a series following a Wisconsin dairy farm through the Repro Money program, administered by University of Wisconsin Extension. As a reminder, names have been omitted to not disclose the identity of the farm.

Hundreds of people flocked to the fields at Breezy Hill Dairy in Dallas, Wisconsin, July 9-11 to see the performance of forage equipment. This video captures the merging and chopping demonstrations that took place at Wisconsin's Farm Technology Days.