While the dairy industry is one of the United States' top agricultural industries, the life of a dairy farmer is certainly not all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, there are many issues with which dairy farmers must contend. Here are just a few issues that you might have to handle if you were a dairy farmer.
Waste production is an issue and dairy cows are no exception as all animals produce waste. Large waste pits or lagoons are these structures built and where the cow waste is typically stored. The waste stored can become hard and solid but it is best to have this in liquefied form, thus special manure treatment is also often needed. A solid sludge layer can form on the bottom of the waste pits and lagoons if the waste is poorly treated. Attracting more flies and also odor and foaming are the results when a hard top crust forms.
In preventing these problems, the dairy farmers treat the waste with chemicals. In these days however, there are already some natural products used as agricultural waste treatments. These are the manure digesters called Activator Plus, a manure digester that eats away and liquefy the top crust in the pits. There is also Agra Sphere and also Lagoon Agra Sphere, the ready to use biodegradable spheres that are just tossed into the lagoons and pits, and these eats away the sludge and also prevent the formation of top crust. These are manure treatment products that are not containing chemicals but only special bacteria that deal with the animal waste.
These cows can also have their lots of individual problems. A common problem that is often encountered is infertility. For a cow to produce milk constantly there should also be production of calves. If this cow is not able to get pregnant anymore, there will also be no production of milk also. This cow will be culled, thus has to be separated from the main herd also. These are the animals that are then made a source of beef.
Another common problem faced with the dairy cows is mastitis. This condition can become fatal because this is caused by infection in the mammary glands. Treatment with antibiotics is done until there is no more infection and when all traces of antibiotics are gone and milk production resumes again and is suitable to the market, the cow is spared or this is also culled
The amount of milk a cow produces each day also is taken under consideration. Generally, a dairy cow might produce six gallons of milk per day. If a cow produces too little, it might be culled. However, studies have shown that lower production levels actually lead to better cow longevity. So while you might only receive four gallons of milk per day, this dairy cow might live longer and produce for a longer amount of time than a cow that produces seven gallons of milk per day. Cow stress also is tied to production, and studies have shown that allowing cows to roam in pastures and playing calming music during lactation actually can improve the yield of milk.
Waste production is an issue and dairy cows are no exception as all animals produce waste. Large waste pits or lagoons are these structures built and where the cow waste is typically stored. The waste stored can become hard and solid but it is best to have this in liquefied form, thus special manure treatment is also often needed. A solid sludge layer can form on the bottom of the waste pits and lagoons if the waste is poorly treated. Attracting more flies and also odor and foaming are the results when a hard top crust forms.
In preventing these problems, the dairy farmers treat the waste with chemicals. In these days however, there are already some natural products used as agricultural waste treatments. These are the manure digesters called Activator Plus, a manure digester that eats away and liquefy the top crust in the pits. There is also Agra Sphere and also Lagoon Agra Sphere, the ready to use biodegradable spheres that are just tossed into the lagoons and pits, and these eats away the sludge and also prevent the formation of top crust. These are manure treatment products that are not containing chemicals but only special bacteria that deal with the animal waste.
These cows can also have their lots of individual problems. A common problem that is often encountered is infertility. For a cow to produce milk constantly there should also be production of calves. If this cow is not able to get pregnant anymore, there will also be no production of milk also. This cow will be culled, thus has to be separated from the main herd also. These are the animals that are then made a source of beef.
Another common problem faced with the dairy cows is mastitis. This condition can become fatal because this is caused by infection in the mammary glands. Treatment with antibiotics is done until there is no more infection and when all traces of antibiotics are gone and milk production resumes again and is suitable to the market, the cow is spared or this is also culled
The amount of milk a cow produces each day also is taken under consideration. Generally, a dairy cow might produce six gallons of milk per day. If a cow produces too little, it might be culled. However, studies have shown that lower production levels actually lead to better cow longevity. So while you might only receive four gallons of milk per day, this dairy cow might live longer and produce for a longer amount of time than a cow that produces seven gallons of milk per day. Cow stress also is tied to production, and studies have shown that allowing cows to roam in pastures and playing calming music during lactation actually can improve the yield of milk.
About the Author:
Lianne Derocco likes blogging about agricultural issues. For further details about agricultural waste solutions, please check out the BioverseAG.com site now or click here.
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