Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[SageHill]

So what do you think about the robots in that they only work for the "average" cow/udder? Does that make a difference? Will breeding end up being for the average and not above average? And with less time with the cows that's less observation "so and so needs ___ or seems a little off" type of intuitive observation.
I totally understand the cost and upkeep of the machines (oh and probably replacement part$) and the farmers not having to be in the barn 2x a day.
From a not a cow person looking in from the outside - is that good for the future generations of cows?

 

[farmerjan]

The cows wear a monitor... ear tag or neck collar or ankle "bracelet"... This records so much... movement... temps.... feed intake, rumen activity... you name it... it records everything it seems. They can tell if the cow is coming in heat by the activity levels, temps will tell them if the cow is feeling bad, running below or above normal... Cows will be bred for evenness of udders... which most farmers are doing already to a great degree... but it will be even moreso. Shape of udder does not have as much to do with milking ability... but it does contribute to how long a cow will "hold up" .... the better, more even shaped udders will milk more evenly, they are less likely to get damaged as a cow gets up and down if the udders are tucked up between the hind legs more closely, things like that. Big pendulous udders do not mean more milk... I have seen cows that produce more milk than you would ever think possible from smaller udders.... it is as much in the genetics as anything... but the better shaped, the longer lasting in the milking herd.

Most farmers do not spend the time observing cattle like the old farmer with 20-30 cows... heat patches were used for monitoring cow activity for mounting... and some are missed if they have short heats at night... many farmers have been using an "electronic" heat detection system...in the 100 cow herds and such.... to catch cows that are not seen in standing heat... and catching more that are showing minimal or even "silent heats"... conception rates are up on many farms with an electronic heat detection system.
There is little room for a "gut feeling" with cows anymore... especially dairy cows. The bigger the farm, the more the electronic systems are relied on for "watching the cows"...if the monitor system, that is all tied in with the robots so all the information is compiled, says that #100 cow is "off", of any of her normal activity... then the farmer goes out in the barn and gets them and brings them in to a catch chute or something to do further "checking them out"....
The electronic monitoring systems are another "tool" in the arsenal of keeping track of everything that concerns the cow...
Just another modernization .... one thing, cows are kept in complete confinement barns with these systems... they can go eat at a bunk, they go in to be milked when they want/feel pressure in the udder... they go lay down in the bedding pack barns... rinse and repeat.....
The only access to outside will be when they are growing heifers, and then as dry cows when they get the average 60 day dry period... not my thing... but look at all the big dairies in CA and TX..... they are all confinement... and cows are constantly being monitored for their comfort... fans and sprinkler systems for cooling in the hot summers... roofs over their heads to keep off the hot sun... protecting them from rain and snow and all the weather...
MUCH LIKE PEOPLE TODAY... GOD FORBID a person has to sweat in the 80-90+ degree sun...just go inside in the AC.... or gets cold outside when it is 20 degrees... look at all the ones that work inside an office... only have to brave the cold to go from office to car or train or something... back home to their heated or AC'd homes... only work outside when it is a comfortable 60-75 degrees... OH YEAH... that is what hired lawn services and landscapers and such are for.....

 

[SageHill]

Ah - ok gotcha on that. Wow that's a ton of info I hadn't even thought was collected - but it sure does make sense.
When I moved here 35 yrs ago there were over 100 dairies in the county. Now there are only two . Housing tracts (homes on postage stamp lots), schools and freeways have done them in. The two that remain, I know one that is close by survives using a compost, mulch and landscape material/fill business they started. The cows (no idea how many - a lot to my eye) are all outside not in indoor operation (though the weather here is darn near perfect). Hence those tv commercials for California Happy Cows of the Real California Cheese campaign. Further north where they actually have winters I have no idea.