CONSULT CORNER

How long does a cow need to be dry? Everyone has a slightly different idea. Most people agree that a cow should have a dry period between...

In general, we expect cows to be more persistent in robot barns than in conventional milking. Heifers tend to start their lactations more...

Cow comfort gets a lot more attention now than it did in the days when I milked in a tie stall barn. And it should. Research shows that...

Last summer I participated in a tour at 4 Cubs Farm near Grantsburg, Wisconsin. 4 Cubs is a 16-unit Lely barn. It is owned by Gary, Cris,...

Social media and news outlets are bursting with ideas for New Year’s resolutions and strategies to keep them. There are tips for...

There are 3 primary physical limitations on production in robotic milking systems. The first is milking capacity, or the number of...

Dairy cattle judges talk about the ideal cow they picture in their minds as their standard for comparison. Why not have a robotic milking...

Robot herds are unique in that there are management changes built into the system for different stages of lactation. In most parlor...

One of the advantages of robotic milking systems is the opportunity to customize a milking schedule according to each cow’s age,...

Many sources, including the Cow Corner blog, advocate feeding dairy cows so that 5% of their feed remains to be removed each day before...

Historically, abruptly discontinuing milking was the most common way to start the dry period. There were a few who milked the cow again a...

I have spent many hours, in many different farm offices, discussing the fate of top producing cows that take too much time in the robot....

Recently, customers have been asking about day-to-day and seasonal variation in their robot barns. They want to know why production,...

In previous articles, I suggested a general goal of 170 milkings per robot per day and an industry average of 140 milkings. What does it...

Many dairy publications will have features in the coming weeks about the new products they saw and the new things they learned at World...

What is the most important unit of production on your dairy? You may think of production in terms of pounds of milk, dollars of sales, or...

Cows, buildings and equipment get a lot of attention when a farm is getting ready to transition to robotic milking. It’s a big change for...

I once heard a story of a woman who always cut her roasts in half and cooked them in 2 pans. She never questioned the practice. It was...

Some dairies are using corn gluten pellets as a lower-cost alternative to manufactured robot pellets. Are corn gluten pellets right for...

Why is Cow Corner offering DelPro training?  Cow Corner’s purpose is to help robotic milking equipment do more for the people who use it....