Barns & Equipment

From hot and muggy summer nights to frosty winter mornings, Minnesota is known for weather extremes. But at Johnson’s Rolling Acres near Rushford, the cows can’t tell the difference.

Compost-bedded pack barns have become an increasingly popular alternative housing system for the lactating herds of many dairy farmers in Kentucky and around the world.

Seems like there is always a project or 12 around the farm that requires removal of soil a round, pointed shovel just isn’t up to – or (maybe more accurately) your back isn’t up to. What’s more, these tasks usually call for a piece of machinery the average farm operator neither possesses nor has the expertise to operate.

Producing high-quality milk and milking more cows in the same amount of time, or milking the same amount of cows in less time, are on top of a manager’s mind when discussing the milking center.

You know how irritating it is to get a pebble in your boot. Each step reminds you there is something down there. Maybe you are like me, and you think at first it will go away, or at least find a place in your boot that is less irritating.

When you hear about milking automation, you likely think of robots. But the reality is: The dairy industry has more choices than ever when it comes to milking automation.