I toured a dairy on Highway 70, some miles outside of the tiny community of Edmonson a couple of days ago and came away quite impressed.
The owner, a recent immigrant from Holland, sunk 13 million into the facility. I was most impressed by the innovations in milking. The cattle are loaded upon a moving carousel and different employees are stationed around to put the suction cups on the teats. Some are there to put iodine on the equipment, and others check to make sure they stay on and then take them off. I was told a good producing cow will give up to 60 gallons in one day, as all are milked twice a day. Each cow is tracked via computer of how much it is producing, once it is below the threshold, it becomes hamburger meat.
There was an incredible amount of cows, and the infant mortality rate was very low, I was told. All breeding is done via artificial insemination, and all male calves born are sold out to feedlots or whoever else wants them.
I have seen the dairies springing up all across the area, and I wonder if they are legitimately going to improve the economy. They buy a ton of grain from local farmers, and utilize truckers to ship out to milk and cheese producers around the state. My only concern is the level of debt assumed by these guys to get going. I also wonder how much the government is still involved in the dairy industry such as price supports, and what effect that has at the lowest level of production. Lastly, I wonder how much of the employees are legal. Maybe someone with family or friends in the business can tell me a little more about the prospects and day to day operations of the dairies. I am very interested.
The owner, a recent immigrant from Holland, sunk 13 million into the facility. I was most impressed by the innovations in milking. The cattle are loaded upon a moving carousel and different employees are stationed around to put the suction cups on the teats. Some are there to put iodine on the equipment, and others check to make sure they stay on and then take them off. I was told a good producing cow will give up to 60 gallons in one day, as all are milked twice a day. Each cow is tracked via computer of how much it is producing, once it is below the threshold, it becomes hamburger meat.
There was an incredible amount of cows, and the infant mortality rate was very low, I was told. All breeding is done via artificial insemination, and all male calves born are sold out to feedlots or whoever else wants them.
I have seen the dairies springing up all across the area, and I wonder if they are legitimately going to improve the economy. They buy a ton of grain from local farmers, and utilize truckers to ship out to milk and cheese producers around the state. My only concern is the level of debt assumed by these guys to get going. I also wonder how much the government is still involved in the dairy industry such as price supports, and what effect that has at the lowest level of production. Lastly, I wonder how much of the employees are legal. Maybe someone with family or friends in the business can tell me a little more about the prospects and day to day operations of the dairies. I am very interested.