Dairy farm management: types of systems

Question 1

What is the holding lot?

Answer 1

Where cows are held right before they go into the barn to be milked

Question 2

Describe stanchion barns

Answer 2

Cows are milked where they live
- where they stand, are fed, are milked
- not great for heat detection
- very few of these still in existence- very small dairies may still operate this way

Question 3

What is the approximate price of milking parlors?

Answer 3

Approximately 750,000-1,000,000$ for a double 12 with everything
-sized to be in usage 22 hours out of the day- closed for 2 hours to wash everything

Question 4

How much do robotic milkers cost?

Answer 4

250,000 per unit

Question 5

How many hours a day do we want cows to be lying down?

Answer 5

10-12 hours a day at a minimum

Question 6

What is the maximum amount of time that cows should be held in a holding lot?

Answer 6

1 hour

Question 7

What is the drawback to milking parlors?

Answer 7

Impossible to add more cows unless you build another parlor, once the first parlor is maximized
-the only way to get more money in these systems is to make more milk

Question 8

Describe how milk is an inelastic system

Answer 8

When the supply of milk goes up, the price goes down and vice versa

Question 9

How many cows can a double 12 size milking parlor handle?

Answer 9

1000-1200 cows milking 3X/day

Question 10

What is the ideal amount of time that each cow should spend in the parlor?

Answer 10

Around 15 minutes/turn
-aka 4 turns an hour for maximum efficiency

Question 11

In order for some farmers to have a work life balance, especially in family run operations, what is the solution?

Answer 11

An oversized parlor not operated 24 hours a day
- cuts down on hired labor costs

Particularly common for grazing dairies

Question 12

How many cows can a 50 cow rotary milk?

Answer 12

2200-2400 cows 3X/day

Question 13

What is the main concern with rotary parlors?

Answer 13

When they break down, this has major consequences
- the entire schedule is thrown off and there is no window to make it up

Question 14

What are some of the main features of robotic dairies?

Answer 14

-each robot can handle 60-65 cows
-robotic dairy is essentially prepaying for future labor costs
-must have a management level employee that likes computers and is good with cows
-works well for someone who likes being around cows but doesnt like to milk
-only way to increase income is by increasing milk production (high input dairies that require high outputs)

Question 15

What are the first 2 limiting factors to milk production on dairy farms?

Answer 15

Forage quality and cow comfort

Question 16

What are the drawbacks to robotic dairies?

Answer 16

Can get lost in the data- there is millions of data points collected every day
-cows milk on average 2.7 times a day
-look at daily, weekly, monthly and yearly trends

Question 17

What is MUN?

Answer 17

milk urea nitrogen
-tells you how much protein is being fed

Question 18

What is the amount of milk in lbs that each dairy cow should ideally produce per day for maximum production

Answer 18

At least 80 lbs

Question 19

T/F: the size of the holding lot should allow for the same amount of cows that go into the barn at each milking rotation

Answer 19

True

Question 20

What is the main theory behind freestall barns?

Answer 20

To keep their butts off the end in order to keep the udder clean

Question 21

What are 2 reasons that cows become alley layers?

Answer 21

Overcrowding and bad stalls

Question 22

Why do older style free stall barns tend to be too short?

Answer 22

Cows used to be smaller
- cows dont fit in these well anymore

Question 23

What are the benefits and drawbacks of loose housing?

Answer 23

Benefits: greatly improved cow comfort

Drawbacks: breeding ground for mastitis