Barns & Equipment

In the National Mastitis Council’s February 1997 newsletter, Washington State University researchers concluded one of the following three practices were necessary to successfully clean a dairy’s cloth prep towels. Performing two of the three would add an extra margin of safety to ensure sanitized towels:

Take care when constructing concrete walking areas for animals. Concrete serves dairy producers well as a material that is durable and economical. It can conform to irregular places and be given a surface that provides cattle adequate traction. Unfortunately, concrete surfaces often end up being too rough, too slippery, too irregular or too level to provide adequate drainage.

Cow comfort has a direct impact on daily health and milk production. Rick Grant and other scientists at the Miner Institute in New York have studied the daily routine of high-producing dairy cows housed in a freestall barn. By combining this information with what we know about improving cow comfort, we can better manage our herds to improve profitability.