Posted: October 26, 2009 at 5:15 pm
By News Editor
The Wisconsin Dairy Council has introduced a new website and promotion called “iRock with Milk”, an exciting opportunity for local Wisconsin school districts to learn more about including milk in a healthy diet.
The Council is working with Wisconsin school foodservice to coordinate a statewide in-school milk promotion to remind all students that drinking milk with meals really “rocks.” The “iRock with Milk” promotion features 2nd Thought Band, a classic rock group of high school students from Whitefish Bay, Wis. A special contest for middle schools throughout Wisconsin will award seven schools with a concert by the band and the opportunity to celebrate milk as a healthy beverage choice. Over 1,200 cafeteria promotion kits will be distributed for this school year to Wisconsin schools.
As part of the promotion, students can visit the newly created website to download 2nd Thought songs, make music videos and enter to win prizes. On the site, visitors can make their own “moo-sic” video with the “Keys to Healthy Living” video creator. And they can enter for a chance to win an iPod nano®, an iPod shuffle® or an iTunes® gift card.
Michigan State University has opened an experimental dairy with the latest technology, including two robotic milking machines made by Maassluis, Netherlands-based Lely Group. Robot milking operations have long been in use in Europe but spread only slowly in the U.S. Part of the new dairy is also pastured-based paddocks. Financing for the 94-cow dairy at MSU’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station came from a $3.5 million 2007 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, along with university funds.
The best news? The dairy is open to the public! About 1,200 people toured the dairy Wednesday, when it was opened to the public for the first time. Along with the self-milking system, visitors saw such cow-friendly features as in-pen water beds, rotary back scratchers and automatic manure scrapers. To save energy, the barn has curtains along its side walls that are raised or lowered to control the temperature. It also was designed to make maximum use of natural light, cutting the electric bill.
“The robotic milking machine will measure the cow’s body weight, eating behavior, milking time per quarter, total and quarter milk yield and milk quality. The farmer gets a lot of information that can be used to make management decisions. Cows … come and go as they choose,” said Mat Haan, operations manager at the Michigan State dairy. “If a cow decides she wants to milk at two o’clock in the morning, she can, as opposed to the farmer bringing the whole herd together and working them through the parlor in one big group.”
The dairy is trying out practices and technology that could “help keep small and midrange family dairy farms in business,” Haan said. “It’s not going to happen at 1,000 or 2,000 animal operations.”
Equipment like the self-milking system can help reduce farmers’ labor costs, which is important when milk prices are low, as they have been in the past year.
A new study by Cornell University shows that dairy cows using the DeLaval Swinging Cow Brush (SCB) register higher milk production and lower clinical mastitis cases. The SCB is a grooming device that allows a cow to brush and scratch herself at her leisure!
The study compared different groups of cows housed in pens using the Swinging Cow Brush to the similar reference groups kept in identical pens under the exact same conditions but without the SCB. The research team concluded that second lactation cows using the SCB showed a significant and increasing difference in daily milk production of up to +1kg per day.
“The Swinging Cow Brush provided a favorite pass time for the cows in this herd. It was fun to watch their interaction with this grooming device. The added benefit of increased production and reduced clinical mastitis makes me think that every farmer should utilize the Cow Brush to make the cows and themselves a bit happier” said Ynte H. Schukken, Professor of Herd Health at Cornell University.
Installation of the SCB resulted in an immediate increase in cow grooming behavior. Farm workers noticed instantly the frequent, intense use of the brushes and the eagerness of the cows to use them, according to the Cornell research team. A second major finding was the significant drop in clinical mastitis cases (over 30%) among second and older lactation cows housed in pens with a SCB present.
“Animal Welfare is a top priority for DeLaval. We are delighted to market a product that makes it possible to improve health, comfort and welfare for the animal while notably boosting profit for the farmer,” said Tim Nicolai, DeLaval Vice President Product Area Milk Quality & Farm Supplies.
According to DeLaval the investment made on SCB can be covered several times over by the profits made through increased milk production and the cost savings achieved through mastitis prevention. Additionally, the SCB keeps cows clean, active, calm and more balanced.
I spent a lot of time at the trade show during the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls this week, and I stumbled upon Barron Built Products.
Based out of Ruthton, Minn., Tom and Daniel Barron work to innovate new products to help the busy dairyman. Pictured here is a hay feeder that catches the hay in barrels below to eliminate waste. This product is hand crafted and runs for $450. In addition, Barron Built contracts for customized feeders to fit your needs. They also build curved swinging doors for the calf huts.
“Sometimes I can’t sleep at night with so many ideas running through my head,” said Barron, of his innovative ideas to simplify a dairy producer’s busy life. “I keep a notebook on my night stand, and I will draw out my ideas during the middle of the night. At Barron Built, we are dedicated to creatively constructing new technologies that will help producers in their operations.”
In my opinion, these were pretty slick pieces of equipment and a good investment for anyone interested in trying something new! For more information on these products, contact Tom at 507-828-3749 or Daniel at 507-829-0085.
Last week GEA Farm Technologies was announced as the new “brand” for WestfaliaSurge, Houle and Norbco. Before Expo was over I spoke with Linda Mrugacz, Director, Marketing & Communications. I wanted to find out what kind of feedback they had been receiving from producers attending the show.
According to Linda, “Actually, it’s going very well. There’s a lot of interest in general about the name, a lot of questions about it, “What does GEA stand for?” Well, it stands for Global Engineering Alliance. GEA Farm Technologies is part of a global alliance of 250 companies according to Linda. She says this means that producers will get the benefit of a “total offering” from the “family of GEA Farm Technology companies.”
You can listen to my interview with Linda as part of our Milking Parlor Podcast:
To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.
The first news I found here at Expo came from our sponsor, GEA Farm Technologies. I know we’ve been promoting WestfaliaSurge but the company is re-launching their brand and this post and interviews will help explain it. Basically, WestfaliaSurge is now a part of the new GEA Farm Technologies.
The CEO and President of GEA Farm Technologies is Vern Foster. He gave us a comprehensive presentation this morning (media and dealers) to explain the reasons behind the change and what that means for the company and its customers.
He says, “It’s to pull all of the organizations that are part of GEA Farm Technologies, Houle, Norbco, WestfaliaSurge, pull it under a common brand so it makes sense for the marketplace, makes sense for our investors, makes sense for our customers and our dealer distribution.” The GEA stands for Global Engineering Alliance, a 5.3 billion Euro company that operates in 50 countries. Vern says, “It helps us really re-focus under one umbrella as we continue to grow and create additional organizations and innovate into the field of agriculture.”
Since Houle, Norbco and WestfaliaSurge have separate sales forces he says they’ve been in discussion together to “offer a more total solutions package to a producer.”
He says you’ll start seeing the new GEA Farm Technologies brand at trade show and in their advertising. In fact, his business cards already show the new logo!
You can listen to Vern’s full presentation here:
You can also download the full presentation using this link (mp3 file).
You can also listen to an interview I did with Vern afterward as part of our Milking Parlor Podcast:
To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.
Posted: September 15, 2008 at 3:40 pm
By News Editor
TyraTech Inc., the pioneer of safer, effective natural pesticide products and automated manure management systems, announces that the Rancho Teresita Dairy has signed an agreement to purchase and install the TyraTech WasteSolver™. This will be one of the first systems to be installed in California.
With ever-tightening environmental regulations, it is increasingly difficult for dairy producers to manage their cows’ manure. This new system is designed to provide an automated solution that efficiently and cost-effectively turns manure into ready to use bedding and organic horticulture ready growing media, which generates incremental profit opportunities for dairies.
The patent-pending WasteSolver is an automated manure management system that efficiently reduces environmental problems and lagoon maintenance by capturing 50% to 70% of suspended manure solids, and then naturally treating the solids in 24 hours through a method similar to pasteurization. The continuous and rapid process is designed to reduce the production of methane by avoiding composting and by aerating liquids that are returned to the lagoon.
Cornell Kasbergen, owner of Rancho Teresita Dairy, commented: “The automated WasteSolver system appealed to me on several levels. First, it replaces the need to devote labor and land to drying manure for bedding. Also, the income streams for bedding sales and potentially greenhouse credits provides incremental profit for our dairy. Lastly, I believe this system is environmentally efficient, which should help us effectively manage an increasingly cumbersome regulatory environment.”
Posted: June 23, 2008 at 10:57 pm
By Laura McNamara
The idea of gaining two extra hours in dairy farm management each day without working extra hours seems like a dream, right? What about cutting the time employees spend searching for animals… in half? Well, Scott Haag at Box Canyon Dairy in Wendell, Idaho says a set of MobileDemand rugged tablet PC’s makes those dairy farm dreams an everyday reality.
MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Box Canyon.
MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.
I spoke with MobileDemand CEO Matt Miller about how he found the agriculture industry to be optimal match for the rugged PC company. You can listen to my interview with Matt here.
MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:
Congrats to Joe Michaels who has been named the Forage Segment Director at Vermeer Corporation.
Michaels, who previously served as the segment’s sales manager, is now responsible for overall operations and will report directly to corporate management.
“Joe’s experience and understanding of the market will be invaluable to Vermeer as we continue to develop and market new and better solutions in the hay and forage marketplace,” said Bob Vermeer, president of Vermeer Corporation.
Michaels brings twenty-five years of agricultural equipment sales, service, marketing and product development experience.
After joining Vermeer as ag product director in 2000, he left the company briefly to help McCormick, USA re-launch the McCormick brand in the US market (McCormick USA, which was originally based in Pella, shared a strategic marketing alliance with Vermeer from November 2001 to March 2004) and then returned to the Vermeer forage group as sales manager.
Posted: February 13, 2008 at 6:41 pm
By News Editor
Dairy producers visiting the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif. this year (February 12-14) will have the first look at many new, exciting products, including the new WasteSolverT created by TyraTech Inc. The WasteSolverT is a new automated manure management system designed to help large dairy farms produce more milk and profit in four key areas:
Increasing cow comfort and increase milk production through use of the resulting soft, clean bedding material that has proven to be equal to (if not better) than sand;
Achieving an average 9% phosphorus reduction, and equal or greater reductions in nitrogen and potassium for the Manure Management Plan, that could help allow a corresponding herd size increase;
Significantly reducing annual bedding costs compared to sand or dry manure/cellulose;
Reducing labor costs due to the system’s highly automated nature.
Stop by the TyraTech Inc. booth at the World Ag Expo to learn more! Booth #6507-6508.
Posted: November 14, 2007 at 12:38 pm
By News Editor
Naturally Iowa, Inc., a organic dairy processer in Iowa, has announced that they will be the first to manufacture polylactic acid (PLA) bottle preforms in the country.
The Company has reserved a dedicated factory space in Waverly, Nebraska and has ordered the necessary molds for the manufacturing and production of PLA bottle preforms. Preforms are the second stage in the production of a PLA bottle. Preforms are formed from the raw resin into a cylindrical tube through an injection molding machine. The preforms are then used with blow molding equipment to produce the final PLA bottle.
According to William Horner, President and CEO of Naturally Iowa Inc., the new equipment and facility gives Naturally Iowa complete control over the manufacturing and production process of the biodegradable PLA bottles. “This is one of many firsts for Naturally Iowa. After four years of research and development, Naturally Iowa became the first and only dairy in the world to integrate the blow molding of PLA preforms into our dairy production process. Now, Naturally Iowa will also control the manufacturing of PLA preforms for dairy containers, handling the entire process from resin to perform to bottle.”
Naturally Iowa distinguishes itself from other dairy processors and producers by offering the highest quality organic and all- natural dairy products packaged in an environmentally-friendly, sustainable container that completely biodegrades in 60 to 100 days in an industrial compost facility.
Posted: October 12, 2007 at 1:46 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
I did an interview at expo with John Deere Hay and Forage Specialist Jim Buchs on how dairy producers can get added value for forage at harvest with Harvest Lab.
“We put a unit on our forage harvester that can measure the moisture as its going through the machine,” Buchs said. “With that information, we can calculate the true tonnage that we are harvesting.”
That information can be used to adjust the harvesting rate to the receiving rate at the bunker silo so you can adjust packing tractors or other required applications.
Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Jim here:
This week I’m attending Propane Days going on here in Washington, DC. This annual event is put on by the National Propane Gas Association and sponsored by the Propane Education & Research Council. I ran into an interesting project that PERC is working on with a company called Rinnai. This is a company that makes gas fired appliances and one thing they’re doing that is real interesting is tankless water heaters.
As you’ll hear in my interview with Mike Peacock (left) and Kirk Morrow, they’re working with PERC on a project with some dairies to showcase how their technology can benefit the farm. Essentially they say it allows the dairy to replace boiler systems that can break down causing the dairy to be without hot water until it gets fixed. Their systems don’t have many moving parts and so they last a long time. Additionally they’re working with the dairies on some other applications like floor heating which would help northern dairies in the winter to keep floors from becoming slick and animals from slipping.
In my interview with Mike and Kirk they also provide some explanation of just how this tankless system works. You can listen to my interview with them here: Rinnai Interview
The annual Hay Expo will be held June 20-21, 2007 in northeast Iowa. The Expo offers alfalfa and forage producers the opportunity to get an inside view of new technology and ideas, and visit a host farm for an on-site tour. Admission is free, parking is $5.
The host farm is Top Deck Holsteins, owned by Roger and Judy Decker and sons Jason, Derek and Justin. The Deckers farm 1,750 acres, milk 650 dairy cows, and raise 700 dairy heifers, calves and dry cows. The Deckers manage their 350 acres of alfalfa to maximize milk production.
The Hay Expo will feature a 10-acre exhibit field with displays from the major and shortline hay and forage equipment manufacturers, seed, building and storage facility suppliers, and numerous related product suppliers. Exhibitors plan to showcase balers, disc mower conditioners, tedders, rakes, telehandlers, bale stackers, forage seed and more.
If you’re hoping to make hay while the sun shines then Nikkel Iron Works has a new tool for you. It’s one example of the kind of new equipment you’ll see on display if you attend the upcoming World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. Remember that they’ve got a very large dairy section as well.
Farmers, locally and nationwide, will soon have a new tool at their fingertips to make baling hay easier and more profitable. That product, the DARF AccuRake™, will be unveiled February 13-15 at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif — the world’s largest agricultural exposition — where it will be honored as a 2007 New Product Nominee.
“It’s a perfect venue to showcase it and introduce it to the farming community,” said Andrew Cummings, president of Shafter-based Nikkel Iron Works. The company invented the AccuRake and will display it at North Street space 62 at the World Ag Expo.
The AccuRake precision hay raking system enhances the proven DARF wheel rake. The system provides for precise depth control of the rake tines regardless of terrain. The main benefits of the system are cleaner, higher quality hay and reduced tooth wear. The exclusive, patent pending design also provides for less stress and wear on other components. The precise control of rake tooth height keeps clods and stones out of the windrow and also results in much less dust while raking.
“Since the teeth aren’t in the dirt, you aren’t going to have that wear and tear. You will double or triple the life of your hay rake teeth,” Cummings said.
The Wisconsin Dairy Council has introduced a new website and promotion called “iRock with Milk”, an exciting opportunity for local Wisconsin school districts to learn more about including milk in a healthy diet. 
A special contest for middle schools throughout Wisconsin will award seven schools with a concert by the band and the opportunity to celebrate milk as a healthy beverage choice. Over 1,200 cafeteria promotion kits will be distributed for this school year to Wisconsin schools.
A new study by 
I spent a lot of time at the trade show during the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls this week, and I stumbled upon Barron Built Products. 
Last week 
The first news I found here at Expo came from our sponsor, 
Since Houle, Norbco and WestfaliaSurge have separate sales forces he says they’ve been in discussion together to “offer a more total solutions package to a producer.” 
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
This week I’m attending 
If you’re hoping to make hay while the sun shines then