Hoard's Dairyman Blogs About Knigge Farms' Open House

The following is a 09/14/2010 blog entry by Hoard's Dairyman. Click here to see the blog entry on their website.

Open house marks anniversary of robotic milkers

Over 600 people came to Knigge Farms of Omro, Wis., to celebrate the 10th anniversary of robotic milking in the United States. It was in August 2000 that Pete and Theo Knigge, and their son, Charlie, installed a pair of A2, Astronaut robots in their new free stall barn. This May, just three months short of the 10-year anniversary, the Knigges installed the latest Lely robots, the Astronaut A3.

The Knigges told those in attendance that the new robots have some great improvements. Their modernistic design covers more of the working parts which reduces the potential for hoses and other components to get moved by cows as they are milked. The improved connection software makes for quicker milking machine attachment which has led to fewer milking failures. When a milking failure occurs, the Knigges must bring the cows up to the robot.

Another recent change to the Knigge operation is the addition of Juno which is a robotic feed pusher. On Knigge's farm, they set it up to push up feed every two hours. Since setting the system up a month ago, milk production has gone from 85 pounds per day to 94 pounds.

On average, cows are being milk three times a day. The highest-producing cow which is milking 140 pounds per day is going into the robot six times. In addition to a TMR, cows get a sweet grain mix to entice them to come into the robot. The average cow gets 9.5 pounds of that grain each day. The herd's TMR mix consists of first-crop haylage, 40.5 pounds at 36 percent dry matter (DM); corn silage, 34 pounds, 37 percent DM; high-moisture shell corn, 13.50 pounds, 67.5 dry matter; cottonseed, 5 pounds, 88 percent DM; protein mix, 2.5 pounds, 92 percent DM; third-crop hay, 2 pounds, 88 DM; and a mineral mix, .74 pounds; 95 percent DM.

One improvement the Knigges would like to see is a downward trend on their SCC which has gone up this summer. It now stands at 325 SCC. There are quite a few robotic herds that are under 200 SCC.

Pete Langebeeke, President of Lely USA presenting a plaque honoring the 10th anniversary of robotic milking in the US to Pete, Theo and Charlie Knigge.

Photo courtesy of Hoard's Dairyman blog.

Lely Featured in Eastern DairyBusiness

We are thrilled to share with you another Lely mention in the news, this time in Eastern DairyBusiness where the Blesy and Kilcer farms are featured.

To check it out, visit the online magazine website to begin reading the dairy technology piece titled, "The High Road to High Tech," as it discusses how dairies have adopted technology and made it work to improve their farms.

While you're there, be sure to flip to page twenty of the online magazine to read the article, "Less Labor, More Milk with Robotic Milkers," which highlights Nathan and Harold Blesy's dairy in Springville, NY, as well as Bill and Trina Kilcer's dairy in Genoa, NY.

It's so exciting to see how producers "Live Life Lely" all over the country!

Knigge Farms Featured in Eastern DairyBusiness

Below is an excerpt from Eastern DairyBusiness.

Ten years ago, Knigge Farms LLC, Omro, Wis. became the first U.S. family dairy farm to install robotic milkers. This summer, they replaced those original units with a new generation of dairy robots.

The farm is owned by Pete, his wife Theo, and Charlie, 34. Charlie has a 7-year-old son, Jacob. The operation includes about 125 cows, 145 head of young stock and 25 feeder steers. The Knigges grow about 600 acres of corn, beans, alfalfa and wheat, and do some custom planting/harvesting. Pete is the herd manager, does most of the AI, and serves as the dairy’s primary general manager; Charlie takes care of nutrition, cropping and maintenance. Theo’s responsibilities include calf care and cleaning the robot rooms.

(Two of Pete and Theo’s daughters have off-farm jobs, but still remain linked to the farm. Krista works for Charleston-Orwig, a communications agency primarily working with ag clients. Mary, who previously worked with the National Milk Producers Federation, became a staff member for the U.S. House Ag Committee last spring.)

Eastern DairyBusiness recently talked with Pete and Charlie, shortly after the 10-year anniversary of the installation of their first robotic milkers and the installation of two new units.

Click here to read the full article from Eastern DairyBusiness.

Lancaster Farming features Horning Dairy

Lancaster Farming recently featured Pennsylvania dairy farmers, Lewis and Amy Horning. They recently built a new free-stall barn with a Lely robotic milker for their 50-cow dairy.

Below is an excerpt from Lancaster Farming's website.

Earlier this month, the farm of Lewis and Amy Horning was a hub of activity as more than 200 farmers and their families gathered for an open house.

In such a difficult economic climate, it might seem strange that the Hornings would take on a significant investment to update their operations. However they said they realized if they were going to be profitable in the dairy industry, some changes would be needed on the family farm.

“When we started thinking about doing something, the milk price was much higher,” Amy said. But the price drop helped them to take a step back and make sure they had considered all of their options, she said.

The search for how to update the farm began in 2008. Both Hornings decided they wanted to continue milking cows, but needed a new milking facility. Before the update, they milked in a tie-stall barn that was used by Amy’s grandfather.

The Hornings built a new free-stall barn with a Lely robotic milker for their 50-cow dairy. The farm is now retrofitting the old tie-stall barn for heifers.

Lewis credits Amy’s father for suggesting the idea of robots for their farm. He told the couple that if he were a young farmer with a family, he would seriously consider the idea. With that, they began to weigh their options by visiting farms with different styles of robots. After the visits, they decided that a Lely milker best fit their needs.

Click here to read the full article.

The Country Today Features Pfaff's Prairie Dairy

The below is an excerpt from The Country Today.

Dairy farmer Tom Pfaff had researched milking parlors before his nephew persuaded him to check out a robotic dairy operation in eastern Minnesota.

Pfaff was skeptical.

"We'd been looking at putting a free-stall and parlor up for some years," he said.

His plans changed, though, the moment he stepped inside the barn at the Minnesota farm.

"The cows were so quiet and the barn was so peaceful," Pfaff recalled. "When they told me the cows had only been in there 12 days, I was sold."

Pfaff's Prairie Dairy, which includes a 420-cow free-stall barn and seven Lely robotic milking units, was completed last November.

It sits a half-mile down the road from the Melrose farm his father, Tom Pfaff, purchased in 1962.

The new operation, installed by Preston Dairy Equipment of Sparta, is an upgrade from the home farm, where, at one point, the Pfaffs switched out cows to milk 160 in the 65-cow stanchion barn built in 1970. For a while they also milked in a 40-cow barn across the road.

"This took a lot of the physical work away," he said. "We have more animals, so we're still out here as many hours, but it's not that back-breaking work."

Ron Rodenberg, Pfaff's herdsman who started in November, said he has been most impressed with cow comfort in the new barn.

"You're really never pushing the cows," Rodenberg said, adding that most of the herd comes willingly to the chute.

"We always have a few we have to fetch," he said, "but we have a drop gate we can use on the few that don't want to come in."

Pfaff said that even cows previously milked in a parlor adjusted well.

He agreed that the cows are more relaxed in their new building.

Click here to read the full article.

Photo courtesy of Danielle Begalke. Vernon County 4-H youth watched as a robotic arm swung down to clean and milk a Holstein cow in the robotic milking system chute Aug. 11 at Pfaff’s Prairie Dairy in Melrose.

Ramsier’s Willow Spring Farm, LLC. and W.G. Dairy Supply, Inc. to host Open House Featuring Lely’s Astronaut A3 Next

Ramsier’s Willow Spring Farm, LLC. and W.G. Dairy Supply, Inc. will host an Open House Sept. 2-3, 2010, featuring Lely’s newest robotic milking technology ― the Lely Astronaut A3 Next. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the A3 Next in action, and have questions about robotic milking technologies answered by experts in the field.

“The Astronaut robotic milking system is taking dairy operations worldwide to new heights of consistency, economy and efficiency,” said Lely USA’s president, Peter Langebeeke. “We invite you to see how the Lely Astronaut A3 Next Robotic Milker is increasing productivity while reducing labor and keeping cows happier and healthier than ever.”

Open House Information

What: Ramsier’s Willow Spring Farm, LLC. and W.G. Dairy Supply, Inc. Open House

When: Sept. 2-3, 2010 / 9:00 a.m. — 4:30 p.m.

Where: 2477 Eastern Road, Rittman, Ohio, 44270

Information: Tours are by appointment only. Contact W.G. Dairy Supply, Inc. for more information (330-435-6522 or 800-821-3952)

Knigge Farms and Central Ag Supply Inc. to host Open House Featuring Lely’s Astronaut A3 Next

Central Ag Supply Inc. and Knigge Farms, the first robotic milking farm in the U.S., will host an Open House on Sept. 14, 2010, featuring Lely’s newest robotic milking technology ― the Lely Astronaut A3 Next. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the A3 Next in action, and have questions about robotic milking technologies answered by experts in the field.

Ten years ago, the Knigge farm became the first robotic milking farm in the United States. On May 25, 2010, the Knigge’s replaced their original Lely Astronaut equipment with Lely’s latest technology, the Lely Astronaut A3 Next.

“We are continuously developing our line of innovative products to improve dairy producers’ financial and social wellbeing,” said Lely USA’s president, Peter Langebeeke. “We are proud that the Astronaut A3 Next does both and take pride in the fact that the Knigge family has trusted Lely, once again, for their farm’s robotic milking technology.”

The Knigges shared the following message on their Facebook page May 26, 2010: “We installed new Lely robotic milkers. The cows seem to like them quite well. Crew from Central Ag Supply Inc. have been here for 48 hrs now, sleeping in their truck to make sure it’s all working.”

Open House Information

What: Knigge Farms and Central Ag Supply Inc. Open House

When: Sept. 14, 2010 / 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where: 4577 Poygan Avenue, Omro, WI, 54963

Directions: Knigge Farms is located 20 miles west of Oshkosh off Highway 21 (3 miles west of Omro). Go north on Poygan Ave. Knigge Farms is the second farm on the west side of the road.

Information: Contact Central Ag Supply (920-386-2611) or Knigge Farms (920-685-5531)

What's YOUR Definition of a Family Farm?

Dairy Herd Management recently posted an online editorial that presented the excellent question, "What defines a family farm?"

Wikipedia defines a family farm as, "a farm owned and operated by a family, and passed down from generation to generation."

When we conduct a Google search for "family farm" images, about 1,440,000 results pop up (yes, images only!). This fun "family farm" photo is brought to you by http://www.orrfamilyfarm.com/:

Not quite what you were thinking? What about the below image, provided on the USDA website?

Still not what quite what you had in mind? While Wikipedia and Google are great, we'd like to hear more from those of us in the industry.

Do you consider your farm to be a family farm? If so, why? Has your definition of a family farm changed at all while you've been in the industry? What image would fit your definition of a family farm?

We look forward to your feedback!

Below is an excerpt from Dairy Herd Management's editorial, "What Defines a Family Farm?"

On the surface, labels are convenient. They organize items, people, even farms into clean, tidy categories, or so the theory goes.

The problem is the definitions are not always equally clean and tidy. It’s well defined and understood what a teacher or a pilot does, because the public readily crosses paths with those professions. But today, the public no longer crosses paths with folks in agriculture. Consequently, they have little idea beyond story books what a farmer or rancher does, much less what constitutes a “family farm”.

Today, the labels factory farm and family farm are tossed about freely and easily, yet with conviction. They are used to pass judgment about what is wholesome, fair and right.

But, what constitutes a family farm? The definition literally depends on the individual—even amongst those of us in agriculture.

Often people point to the farmer’s market vendor as a family farm. In reality, that may or may not be the case, depending on the market and where the vendor gets his or her products. Just as often any farm producing organic or natural goods is granted the same consideration, even though a growing number of those are large corporations.

That raises another reasonable point, for tax purposes and any number of other reasons farms and ranches, regardless of size, organize as corporations, limited liability partnerships or other business structures. Are they family farms?

Is a farmer who raises hogs on contract for another producer on a farmstead that’s been in his family for four generations a family farm? Is a second-generation farm now owned by four siblings, but who rent the land out still a family farm?

Then there’s the size issue; at what point is a farm too big to be a family farm? I would argue that size doesn’t matter.

The 20-cow dairy involving a husband, wife and three kids is a family farm. But so is the dairy owned by two adult brothers who milk 3,000 cows, which involves their families and 15 employees.

Read the full article on dairyherd.com.

STEM Mentor Program Visits Robotic Dairy

The below is an excerpt from a recent post by the STEM Mentor Program blog.

On June 19 the STEM Mentor Program – an innovative partnership between The Rochester Area Colleges Center for Excellence in Math and Science (The Center) and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester (BBBS) - visited Springdale Farm in Ogden, New York.

Springdale Farm provided a wealth of STEM education and activities for the Bigs and Littles in the program, which matches fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from the Rochester area with adult mentors who have a background or passion in STEM fields.

Owned by Monroe County and operated by Heritage Christian Services, the 200 acre farm is a working agricultural education facility open to the public. It boosts a petting zoo, greenhouse, duck pond, nature trails, picnic area and playground.

The farm is also home to Riedman Robotic Milking Center - a working dairy that utilizes a robotic milking machine to milk sixty cows. Springdale Farm was the first public demonstration farm in the Northeast to install this cutting-edge technology.

STEM Mentor participants took a tour of the Riedman Robotic Milking Center and got to see this amazing technology first hand.

The tour elicited many questions–by the Bigs and Littles alike. “I have a question,” said Little Brother Raajon as he watched a cow being milked and a nearby tank filling with the cow’s white milk, “Where are the cows that produce the chocolate milk?” The Springdale Farm tour guide proceeded to answer the question with great detail for the entire group.

Read the full blog at The Stem Blog.

Why I Love Dairy Video Contest and Life In A Day

There are two great (and FREE) video contests currently available to us in the ag industry, both of which offer excellent opportunities to promote dairy.

Why I Love Dairy Video Contest
Why do you love dairy? Share your story about modern dairy farming with this fun video contest sponsored by Dairy Management Inc. ...

The below is an excerpt taken from the Indiana Dairy Council website.
Do you want to let the public know all the great things about modern dairy farming? Are there consumer misperceptions about dairy that you want to set straight? Are you a fan of milk, cheese and yogurt and want to let others know why?

Here’s your chance: Enter the Why I Love Dairy Video Contest, sponsored by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI). If you participate in the myDairy Online Advocacy Program and have access to http://www.mydairytoolkit.com/, you’re eligible to enter. To join the myDairy program and obtain a password, email your name and email address to Amanda Trice at atrice@sedairy.org.

Read more here.

Life In A Day
If you haven’t heard the “buzz” about this already, you will. This is an opportunity to put agriculture on the “big screen” and in our own words …

The below is an excerpt taken from Life In A Day’s YouTube channel.
Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald discusses his latest project, Life In A Day: a historic global experiment to create a user-generated documentary film shot in a single day.

On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin.

For more information, visit www.youtube.com/lifeinaday.

Start Filming!
“Be careful what you wish for,” as they say. We’ve said we want to be the ones to share the story of ag and these are two great opportunities available to us.

As you are filming, be sure to keep a few things in mind:

• What are your key messages and points that you want to share? Animal safety or care? Nutrition? Technology?
• What will my farm look like to a consumer? What impression do I want to leave with them?
• Don’t get too technical - How can I best explain what viewers are seeing in my video? Should the video be narrated or should interviews be included?
• Most importantly – Be sure to ask yourself “How can I best showcase my dairy story?

So, start filming! We’d love to hear about your video(s), so keep in touch, too!

Dairy Star Highlights Hillview Dairy's New Lely CALM Automatic Calf Feeder

The below is an excerpt from a recent story featuring Hillview Dairy on dairystar.com.

The partners at Kerfelds' Hillview Dairy knew they needed to do something to change the way their calves were raised. Heifer calves on the 165-cow dairy were housed in Poly-dome hutches during the spring, summer and fall; in the winter, calves were kept in individual pens inside the old dairy barn.

"The calves did fine in the hutches, but as our herd has grown and we've had more heifer calves, it just wasn't working well in the winter. We were trying to move too many calves through the barn," said Tim Kerfeld, a partner at Hillview Dairy, along with his wife, Carrie, and his parents, Art and Rosie Kerfeld. Tim and Carrie have five children - Nicholas (17), Jessica (11), Nathan (9), Isaac (5), and Riley (3) - who help on the farm, too.

The Kerfelds initially planned to replace the concrete floor in their old dairy barn and install individual stalls with poly dividers. But after seeing an automatic calf feeder at a farm show, they reconsidered their decision.

"After comparing the costs between going with the stalls and putting in a calf feeder, it was almost a no-brainer to put the calf feeder in," Tim said.

Their calf-barn remodeling project started in the spring of 2009. The concrete floor in the old dairy barn was removed and replaced with a new, level floor. The old floor had always made cleaning the barn a challenge due to the uneven surface.

Two pens were constructed with swinging gates, long-day lighting was installed, and forced-air circulating tubes and exhaust fans were added to the ventilation system. A section of the barn was also fitted with floor drains to accommodate a row of individual stalls for housing calves during their first week.

Finally, a Lely CALM automatic calf feeder with a powder mixer and two feeding stations was installed.

"We considered putting in a pasteurizer as well, but decided to stick with milk replacer. Art does a lot with the calves, and he's looking for less work, not more. We thought the extra chore of saving milk and getting it over here to the calf barn wouldn't be worth it," Tim said.

The first calves moved into the new barn last August. Ten months later, the Kerfelds couldn't be happier with their new set-up.

They had to make some adjustments in the beginning, Tim said, but overall the transition to group housing and automatic feeding went very well.

Click here to read the full article from Dairy Star.

To learn more about the Lely CALM, visit Lely's website for more information.

VanLangen Dairy featured in Dairy Star

The below is an excerpt from a recent story featuring the VanLangen Farm on dairystar.com.

Netherland dairy styles have migrated to Wisconsin. Grazing and robotic milkers is a combination that is working for VanLangen Dairy.

Ron and Ester VanLangen grew up on dairies in the Netherlands where grazing was common practice. Since their migration to the U.S. in 2008, the VanLangens have transitioned a Wisconsin dairy into a modern grazing operation with robotic milkers. A setup similar to the Netherland dairies they were used to.

The dairy was one of the seven stops on the Minnesota Milk Producers Association and University of Minnesota Extension Summer Bus Tour June 15-17.

Currently 122 cows are milked by two Lely robots that are housed in VanLangen's new five-row freestall barn that also has a bedded pack for dry and fresh cows.

"This is a free-flow barn," said Rick Rugg, Lely representative. "Cows can do what they want, whenever they want. You'll typically have one-third of the cows lying down, one-third eating and the other one-third milking."

Feed keeps the free-flow system working. Cows come to the robots not because they have the urge to milk, but because they are seeking out high energy feed they'll receive while being milked in the robot.

"The driving force into the robots is the feed," Rugg said. "You take the energy out of the feed bunk and put it into the robot."

To read the full article, click here.

Animal Activism

Late May, we shared with you animal care messaging in response to the animal rights group Mercy for Animals releasing undercover footage taken at an Ohio dairy farm.

Since then, Ohio agricultural groups and the Humane Society of the United States have reached a compromise, leaving HSUS off the ballot initiative this fall. Read more on Dairy Herd Management's website ...

Today, farmers across the country, as well as other agvocates, are joining forces to share their side of the story. While our efforts have not gone unnoticed, there are still people to educate, including ourselves.

Progressive Dairyman provided readers with valuable information on animal activism, including a number of additional resources in their July 1, 2010 issue.

The following is an excerpt from Progressive Dairyman's website.

"With one in five Americans registering concern about farm animal welfare in recent polls, reassuring the general public that their favorite dairy foods were produced in accordance with best practices in animal care is no small feat. Consumers expect and demand the type of third-party validation that’s offered by the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program. Dairy producers have a great story to tell on animal care, and with the widespread use of Dairy FARM, we will be in a stronger position to promote it with consistency, credibility and authenticity."

Progressive Dairyman goes on to identify steps that farmers can take to protect themselves, their animals, as well as employees, when it comes to animal care issues.

Steps to take:

• Give yourself a check-up. Bring a friend who doesn’t work in agriculture on a walk around your farm. Are there any areas or practices that raise questions? For example, do you have old machinery lying around, or animal care products that are stored in a nonsecure location? Gather your team and make the appropriate adjustments before visitors come to your farm.


• Prepare a fact sheet about your farm. Include your philosophy on caring for your cows and why you do what you do. This fact sheet can be provided to reporters and community members.


• Follow on-farm best practices. Articulate your farm’s protocols and on-farm practices in writing. Conduct periodic meetings with your employees to update them on best practices. Be sure to discuss the possible consequences if these practices are not followed. The National Dairy FARM program provides recommended animal care guidelines that can be used to support training, whether or not a farm is fully implementing the program.


• Learn about your prospective employees. Research potential employees online, and verify their employer and non-employer references.


• Develop relationships with the local media. If an undercover video of your farm does surface, the media is more likely to follow up with you to learn the facts if you’ve already established a relationship.


• Engage in public relations. Create a farm website that includes your farm’s commitment to animal care. Include photos of you and your employees caring for the animals, along with brief captions about your practices. You also can invite the media community to tour your dairy farm. This gives them the opportunity to see firsthand how you care for your animals and allows you to answer questions about on-farm practices.

To read the full article, visit Progressive Dairyman's website.

ISU's Dairy Farm Tour

We had a great time this morning at Iowa State University’s Second Annual Dairy Farm Tour! Our journey began by traveling just south of Ames and ending at the 887 acre dairy facility. The farm’s grounds were scattered with people, both young and old, all excited and ready to take advantage of this June Dairy Month celebration. A public viewing area was available upon arrival, followed by a tour of the farm, a stop at the childrens’ discovery center where several fun activities were open, as well as free dairy product samples. Not only that, the weather cooperated beautifully with hardly a cloud in the sky.

Upon leaving, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in how the Central Iowa community embraced June Dairy Month! With Iowa’s 1,910 dairy farms and 4.3 billion pounds of milk produced annually, it’s no wonder.

Iowa State opened the farm just a few years ago in 2007. It is used for teaching, research and outreach activities.

Special thanks to all of the event sponsors for their support -- the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, Midwest Dairy Association, Iowa State Dairy Association and the Iowa State Dairy Farm.

Blesy Farm featured in The Post-Journal

The below is an excerpt from a recent story featuring the Blesy Farm on post-journal.com

More than 19,000 pounds of milk is produced each day at the Blesy Farm south of Springville.

What's amazing is that the farmers who work there can do it without laying their hands upon a single cow.

Thanks to four Lely Astronaut robotic milking systems installed on the farm in September, the cows practically milk themselves - some as many as four times a day.

The 1,200-acre farm is co-owned and -operated by Harold Blesy and his son, Nathan. While the process of getting the cows acclimated to getting up and walking into an automatic milker was trying at first, cows now line up for their turn in one of the farm's milking devices - which more resemble a contraption out of a science-fiction movie than anything one would envision would be inside the normal-looking red barn at the end of Henrietta Road.

''Cows might act stupid, but they are creatures of habit,'' Harold Blesy said. ''You put them out in this environment, and they go in, they get milked, and they are happy.''

Click here to read the full article.

Agweek goes deep with robotic milking

We've seen a number of stories on the emergence of free-cow-traffic robotic milking in the U.S. All bring something a bit different to the fold, because each story covers a new farm using the technology, and each farm is unique.

While there are many commonalities among dairy farms using our robotic technology--improved cow calmness, greater labor efficiencies, production volume increases, more time for farmers to spend on strategic matters or more family time (or both!) -- each dairyman has his own unique experience to share.

A story this week in Agweek by Mikkel Pates goes into great detail describing Ardy Johansen's farm in Underwood, MN. Pates' piece captures a lot of thinking from Ardy on labor issues, how he compares employee work routines, turnover, training and his own management style with other decision factors he put on the table before opting to adopt robotics. The story also highlights some of the family dynamics involved, from a father's advice to pondering whether robotic milking might someday influence whether his young sons want to run a dairy.

All in all, a compelling article.

From the ashes rises a state-of-the-art dairy

A Vermont dairy farm family has gone through some unbelievable hardship in the past couple of years. They lost their farm to a fire and found themselves having to rebuild their life. Not content just to try to return to the kind of farm they had in the past, they decided to not just rebuild, but create an advanced, Lely-equipped dairy farm that will serve them for many years in the future.

A local television report captures the story in a way we can't on this blog. But we're happy to post the video of the story here. Inspiring and, at the same time, exciting.

Dairy advisory teams forming in NY. An impressive display of unity and innovation.

The great thing about agriculture: when it's tough sledding, people join together and work to help out wherever or whomever they can.

This has been demonstrated many times over in decades past. Willie Nelson's Farm Aid concerts during the farm crisis of the early 80s; Midwest farmers shipping their hay free of charge down to farms in the Southeast during drought years so that cattle could be fed. The magazine Successful Farming held a national confab on crop diversification during the farm crisis, and bused in any farmer who wanted to attend from points across the country.

So it's probably no surprise to read this week about a volunteer effort in New York state to help dairy farmers manage through the current economic downturn. The publication Farm and Dairy details the effort, in which teams of dairy experts, from finance specialists to nutritionists to herd management advisors to robotics and technology pros are assembling to give farmers a 360-degree analysis of their dairy farm. They hope to form 22 teams this year.

Big kudos to all who are working to mount this effort and help dairy farmers weather the storm.

Blog Watch : Orange Patch Dairy

This blog is written by a woman who journals about "the daily grind of a southern Minnesota Dairy Farm. My husband Jonathan and I run a 100 cow dairy in partnership with his father, and his additional 80 cows. We have a commercial dairy. We love our job, it may be hard but it's very rewarding."

They earlier this season they went to the Central Plains Dairy expo and saw the Lely Discovery barn cleaner and the Lely Juno feed pusher in action. Their account of the trip is here.

"...the innovation was intriguing," she writes. "One was a robot for pushing up TMR to cows and the other was a robot built to push manure into pits. Both were so intriguing!"

A great robotic story publsihed today in Iowa

Today's Des Moines Register ran a front-page feature today on the Lely robotic milking system that is operating on a dairy farm in Buffalo Center, Iowa. The farm is owned by Auggie Baumann and his son, Mike. They milk approximately 240 cows using 4 Lely Astronaut A3 robots. It's been a noticeable lifestyle change for the Baumanns since they installed the robots. They regularly talk about the new-found freedom they have in their lives, not being tied to the barn every waking hour of the day to push cows through a milker. The free-cow traffic that Lely robots work from allows cows to freely visit the robot when they want to.

The paper posted a short video as well. View it below.