“I don’t know if there’s a secret,” says owner Margreet Dijkstra of Sylvanside Dairy’s award-winning milk quality. “We just have an eye for details.” She also credits excellent cow comfort, no shortcuts and consistency.

When it comes to bedding for dairy farms, choosing the right material can have a significant impact on both the health of the cows and the overall efficiency of the farm.

Locomotion and hock scores, along with resting time, are indicators of the quality of the lying surface and bedding choice. With many bedding options available, this article provides recommendations for how to optimize each of them to improve cow comfort.

There are many things to consider when you start evaluating what kind of beds and bedding you will use in your stalls, and everyone has a different opinion about what’s the best option.

How do you choose the best bedding for your cows? Obvious considerations include bedding cost and availability, but there are a few less obvious considerations that will help you make the best decision for your farm. Take a look at them and discover which bedding fits your farm’s cow comfort goals.

Bedding type is a crucial component of cow comfort. Encouraging cows to spend more time lying and chewing their cud is the ultimate goal, but accomplishing that end has a plethora of considerations.