Robotic milkers and hybrid cows help dairy farmers keep going
SUGARCREEK ‒ Dairy farmers looking to sustain their operations into the future are adding robotic milking machines and hybrid cows to their operations.
Family-owned Specht Farms Ltd. has already added both. Tim Specht said the farm added two robotic milkers Nov. 1 and has four more awaiting installation. The equipment is helping him deal with a labor shortage.
He doesn't have enough family members and hired hands to milk the farm's 320 cows and work in the fields. The farm gets by with four workers.
"The last year or so, I've just been having such a hard time with labor," said Specht. "You used to always have high school kids who were just champing at the bit to get some hours in and do some work. There's nobody out there anymore."
Specht rises at 3:30 a.m. to do the first of three daily milkings.
"I think the only way I'm going to get away from it is with these robots," he said. "The people just aren't there to take my shift. Nobody wants the morning shift."
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Specht has also added ProCROSS hybrid cows to the herd that previously consisted entirely of black-and-white Holsteins, long favored for their high milk production, but vulnerable to health issues caused by inbreeding. Some of his Holsteins are now bred with two other breeds: the Montebeliarde from France, a durable, fertile and low-input breed, and the VikingRed, a hardy cow developed in the Nordic countries which has minimal health issues and high fertility. The hybrids are shorter in stature than pure U.S. Holsteins.
At a gathering of dairy farmers Tuesday, he said Specht Farms is seeing these benefits in the ProCROSS animals:
- Earlier first calvings.
- Better fertility, which equals shorter calving intervals.
- Better production.
- Cows lasting longer and leaving more replacements.
Specht spoke as part of the Ohio ProCROSS Tour, which included three other area dairy farms with ProCROSS cows. He spoke at D&S Dairy Farm, owned by the Lavern Schlabach on state Route 93 in Sugar Creek Township.
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Farmers who employ best practices, like Schlabach and the Spechts, can earn $1.80 to $2 more per day per cow, according to Glenn Carlisle, owner of Carlisle Dairy + Forage Consulting of Dover. Those practices include using fans and water misters to keep cows cool and taking advantage of cross-breeding.
"It's a very big impact on your bottom line," said Carlisle, who serves as a consultant to Schlabach and the Spechts.
He said the hybrid ProCROSS animals avoid the problems caused by inbreeding. He said 90% of purebred Holsteins are descended from six sires.
Also present for Tuesday's farm tour and program was Amy Hazel Loeschke, a product consultant with the ProCROSS company.
She previously worked as a researcher at the University of Minnesota, where her primary responsibility was to coordinate a long-term research study that compared the first three generations of ProCROSS cows with their Holstein herdmates in seven Minnesota dairy herds. Her study concluded that there was more profitability, longer herd life, less health treatment cost, and superior fertility for the ProCROSS cows compared with the Holsteins.
ProCROSS cows require less feed, yet produce milk with a higher percentage of protein and fat than purebred Holsteins, Carlisle said.
"We get paid for solids," he said. The higher percentage of fat is particularly important in this area, with its many cheesemakers.
The efficiency of ProCROSS cows means they have a smaller carbon footprint, according to Loeschke. University research in Italy showed ProCROSS cows have lower emissions than Holsteins. ProCROSS herds demonstrated a 22% reduction in their emissions output in a study conducted by a United Kingdom milk cooperative. European milk cooperatives have started paying farmers to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR