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.
Animals produce waste and dairy cows are not exempted from this waste issue. Waste is typically stored in large pits and these are called waste pits or waste lagoons. The waste of these animals needs special manure treatment so that it will not become hard and solidified, and it is better to have this in liquid form. The poorly treated waste matter however, will turn to solid matter or sludge layer forming in the bottom of the waste pit or lagoon. Hard crust can also form on the top and this is odor forming and also attracts flies.
Treatments of the waste materials with chemicals are often done by farmers, to prevent these from happening. There are natural products that can be used as agricultural waste treatment that can be used these days however. These are natural products that eat away and liquefy the tough top crust, the manure digesters with one called Activator Plus. There are also the biodegradable spheres that are just tossed into the lagoons and will eat away the sludge and also keep the top crust from forming, and these are Agra Sphere and Lagoon Agra Sphere, which are easy-to-use products. No chemicals are included in these products and only special bacteria used for the treatment of agricultural waste by these manure treatment products.
Individual cows also can have a host of problems. One problem that sometimes occurs is infertility. In order to produce milk, a cow must constantly be producing calves. When a cow cannot become pregnant, this animal also can no longer be used to produce milk. Therefore the cow will be culled, which means to be separated from the herd. Often these animals then are used as a source of beef.
There is also mastitis, a common problem also encountered in dairy cows. This problem is caused by a mammary gland infection and can also be fatal. The cows are often culled in this situation and treated with antibiotics until there is no more infection and after all antibiotic traces are gone, the milk produced are then suitable again for the market.
One thing greatly taken into consideration is the amount of milk produced by a cow each day. Six gallons of milk each day is the average milk production of each cow. A cow may be culled if the milk production is already little. Lower milk production can however lead to better cow longevity, and there are studies to show this. A dairy cow may live longer and thus produce more in a longer time, compared to a cow producing seven gallons of milk a day if you are receiving only four gallons of milk a day from this cow. There are also studies showing that cows roaming in pastures and also playing music while lactating, can improve production of milk, and this is because stress in cows is related to milk production.
Animals produce waste and dairy cows are not exempted from this waste issue. Waste is typically stored in large pits and these are called waste pits or waste lagoons. The waste of these animals needs special manure treatment so that it will not become hard and solidified, and it is better to have this in liquid form. The poorly treated waste matter however, will turn to solid matter or sludge layer forming in the bottom of the waste pit or lagoon. Hard crust can also form on the top and this is odor forming and also attracts flies.
Treatments of the waste materials with chemicals are often done by farmers, to prevent these from happening. There are natural products that can be used as agricultural waste treatment that can be used these days however. These are natural products that eat away and liquefy the tough top crust, the manure digesters with one called Activator Plus. There are also the biodegradable spheres that are just tossed into the lagoons and will eat away the sludge and also keep the top crust from forming, and these are Agra Sphere and Lagoon Agra Sphere, which are easy-to-use products. No chemicals are included in these products and only special bacteria used for the treatment of agricultural waste by these manure treatment products.
Individual cows also can have a host of problems. One problem that sometimes occurs is infertility. In order to produce milk, a cow must constantly be producing calves. When a cow cannot become pregnant, this animal also can no longer be used to produce milk. Therefore the cow will be culled, which means to be separated from the herd. Often these animals then are used as a source of beef.
There is also mastitis, a common problem also encountered in dairy cows. This problem is caused by a mammary gland infection and can also be fatal. The cows are often culled in this situation and treated with antibiotics until there is no more infection and after all antibiotic traces are gone, the milk produced are then suitable again for the market.
One thing greatly taken into consideration is the amount of milk produced by a cow each day. Six gallons of milk each day is the average milk production of each cow. A cow may be culled if the milk production is already little. Lower milk production can however lead to better cow longevity, and there are studies to show this. A dairy cow may live longer and thus produce more in a longer time, compared to a cow producing seven gallons of milk a day if you are receiving only four gallons of milk a day from this cow. There are also studies showing that cows roaming in pastures and also playing music while lactating, can improve production of milk, and this is because stress in cows is related to milk production.
About the Author:
Lianne Derocco likes blogging about agricultural issues. For further information about agricultural waste solutions, please visit the BioverseAG.com website now or click here.