Serious dairying

[Guest guest]

I jsut returned from Colorado where i toured a farm that milks 1500 cows 3

times daily. I know, I know, all the negative stuff, but being raised on a

farm it was fascinating for me. They milk 24/7, with 3 milkers and 1

herdsman on site at all times. The herdsman walks every barn every 2 hours.

Milkers milk 3 days, off one, make $20,000 US a year. Herdsman make $50,000.

US a year. The owner stated that nowadays it is necessary to milk 500 cows

to be able to make a living from a dairy, more if you want to make real

money.

 

They buy all their feed, using brokers who shop the whole country for deals

for grain and protein sources, buy dry hay and sileage by the tractor

trailor load, every truck entering the farm is weighed on their own scale.

all milk trucks are weighed coming and going.

 

They have a 20 on a side milking setup, which means they milk 40 at a time.

Each cow has a transponder that gives the computer in the milking station

their number, which measures the milk from each miling and then gives that

amount to the main computer, so every cow is tracked by every milking she

ever has. The results are available on a website, as they have the world's

largest herd of registered Holsteins, and sell surplus heifers and bulls

for breeding, so they want buyers to be able to research bloodlines.

 

Really an impressive operation, if you have any appreciation for efficiency.

Every detail is worked out and monitered closely.