Join Kristy Campbell of DeLaval for our latest episode!

Successful improvements in milk quality take a systems approach. Historically, we’ve focused in the front of the barn to make improvements. While that area is important, significant efforts should be made in the back of the barn as well. Cow comfort, bedding management, ventilation, heat/cold stress and employee protocols all play a role in milk quality. The impacts of these factors are amplified in robotic facilities. Not approaching milk quality from a systems point of view leads to missed opportunities for improvement.

To study something, we must be able to classify it and categorize it. You may have heard that dairy barns are like snowflakes – there are no two alike. Join Dr. Mario Mondaca of VES-Artex on his journey to try and parametrize barns into the most important facility parameters and how they affect ventilation design.

Smart dairy farming systems generate a large amount of data that can help farmers monitor barn environmental conditions, milk production, feeding, and reproduction cycles of cows. There is also growing interest in the individual-level monitoring of cow behavior in group housed cattle.

Dr. Borbala Foris of the University of British Columbia’s Animal Welfare Program chats with us on some of the latest research on promising new data streams such as social and grooming behavior that can provide insights into the experiences of individual cows living in a herd and how this impacts their welfare and productivity.

Join VES-Artex’s Key Account Manager, Joel Hornby, to learn tangible tips for building a better barn and solutions for avoiding ventilation KPI killers. Sometimes the key to success is knowing what not to do and then determining the best solution. In providing an animal-centered environment for your dairy, specific considerations need to be given to the effects of weather, building structure and facility layout and of course, the cows themselves. Whether you are building a new facility or retrofitting an existing facility, plan to begin with the end in mind and do it the right way the first time.

Please join Peter Manneke, Territory Sales Manager for Europe, Middle East & Africa for VES-Artex for a webinar on the basics of heat stress.

Simply put, if your cows are experiencing heat stress, your production, reproduction, cow flow, and in turn bottom line, are going to suffer. This presentation will focus on how heat stress occurs in a barn, how to monitor your cows’ behavior when the temperature is rising and tangible heat abatement strategies to put in place to keep your herd cool and comfortable, before it is too late.

Join VES-Artex’s Key Account Manager, Joel Hornby, for our first webinar of 2023. Joel will provide solutions for avoiding ventilation KPI killers. Sometimes the key to success is knowing what not to do and then determining the best solution. In providing an animal-centered environment for your dairy, specific considerations need to be given to the effects of weather, building structure and facility layout and of course, the cows themselves. Whether you are building a new facility or retrofitting an existing facility, plan to begin with the end in mind and do it the right way the first time.

Dr. Huw McConochie of Zinpro joins us for a conversation on hoof health. The cow evolved to occupy an environment very different to the one which we provide her. This environment challenges her physiology. Although big improvements have been made to enhance the cow’s environment, there are still improvements that can be made on most dairies to alleviate many of these challenges without impacting the efficiency of work routines. In fact, an environment that has a positive effect of health and welfare can even enhance operational efficiency. Problem cows often consume extra resources in terms of employee time and the occupation of a barn slot that would. Through changes to design and management we can meet some important sustainability goals – Barn slots occupied with healthy, productive and long-lived cows.

Please join Huw McConochie of Zinpro for our next webinar. The cow evolved to occupy an environment very different to the one which we provide her. This environment challenges her physiology. Although big improvements have been made to enhance the cow’s environment, there are still improvements that can be made on most dairies to alleviate many of these challenges without impacting the efficiency of work routines. In fact, an environment that has a positive effect of health and welfare can even enhance operational efficiency. Problem cows often consume extra resources in terms of employee time and the occupation of a barn slot that would. Through changes to design and management we can meet some important sustainability goals – Barn slots occupied with healthy, productive and long-lived cows.

VES-Artex expert, Charlie Hoffman, will explore how you can use climate and operational data to fine-tune your heat abatement strategy. Our goal? To help you prevent the costly side effects of heat stress before they affect your bottom line.

The back of the barn is where your herd eats, lies, drinks, walks and lives the majority of their lives – make sure it’s as comfortable as possible! Dr. Mike Wolf, consulting veterinarian for VES-Artex, will walk us through the freestall barn and provide tangible suggestions to improve the comfort of your cows for both the short and long term.

Bringing cows to the parlor as clean and as relaxed as possible is fundamental for improving or maintaining excellent udder health. “What do you see” when walking a dairy facility that can impact the overall milk quality and how to manage around these issues? Dr. David Reid of Rocky Ridge Consulting, LLC goes over some basic dairy stockmanship and cow handling skills that can significantly improve cow cleanliness when cows enter the parlor.

Bringing cows to the parlor as clean and as relaxed as possible is fundamental for improving or maintaining excellent udder health. “What do you see” when walking a dairy facility that can impact the overall milk quality and how to manage around these issues? Dr. David Reid of Rocky Ridge Consulting, LLC will go over some basic dairy stockmanship and cow handling skills that can significantly improve cow cleanliness when cows enter the parlor.

Having lots of data is great, but not knowing how to properly utilize it to your dairy’s advantage isn’t so great. Please join us for a presentation by Ryan Pearcy of Turntide Technologies where he will give you tools and best practices to take all of the information from each of your data streams to make effective decisions for your herd.

Improvements in cow comfort make total sense to the “cow people”, so why don’t the “pencil pushers” get it? Tune in to learn some straight forward, simple tips and strategies on how to “sell the upgrade” and their expected benefits – both financial and non-financial – to your accountants, lenders, and investors.