Top Performers

How many times a day do you milk, and what is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? We milk twice a day. Our current average is 28,000 pounds of milk with tests of 4.2% fat and 3.2% protein.

Describe your housing and milking facility. Our cows are split into two groups — high production and low production. They are milked in a tie tall barn but housed in tie stalls and free stalls. They spend half of each day in each.

Who is part of your farm team, and what are their roles? My wife, Jenny, and I make up the farm team. Jenny does the majority of the feeding and calf care, while I do the milking and the remaining animal care. We both do fieldwork as needed. I also watch for heats and take care of the breeding program.

What is your herd health program? The vaccinations include Bovilis Nasalgen 3-PMH, Bovi-Shield and Vira Shield. The pregnancy checks are done with Dairy Herd Improvement Association milk samples at 28 days and 120 days, so vet visits are as needed only.

What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? The cows are dry for 60 days and treated with ToMORROW dry tubes and a teat sealant. They are housed at the end of the freestall barn on a bed pack of corn stocks. The ration includes grass hay, corn silage, grain, protein and mineral mix. Cows enter the high group one day after calving.

What is the composition of your ration, and how has that changed in recent years? Our ration includes haylage, corn silage, high moisture corn, ear corn, protein and mineral mix. We make small changes based on dry matter. Otherwise, we keep the ratios the same.

Tell us about the forages you plant and detail your harvest strategies. Alfalfa is cut every 28 days and chopped at 60%-65% moisture. It is stored in 16-by-72-foot silo or a 9-by-150-foot bags. We chop our corn silage at 64-65% moisture and store it in a 20-by-80-foot silo and 9-by-150-foot bags. The high moisture corn is stored in a 14- by 65-foot silo. We also plant forage barley and fall seeded oats for young stock, which is stored in 9- by 150-foot bags.

What is your average somatic cell count and how does that affect your production? Somatic cell count has always been a priority. Our average SCC is 125,000-150,000. We do use a quarter milker on high cows. The sawdust is big for us. Nothing dries a stall as fast as sawdust.

What change has created the biggest improvement in your herd average? In 2004-2005 we switched to mattresses, long day lighting and sawdust. We saw an instant rise in production. All of our stalls have mattresses bedded with sawdust.

What technology do you use to monitor your herd? We have been using DHIA since 1997.

What is your breeding program, and what role does genetics play in your production level? We breed with Genex. The bulls are selected for select traits — net merit, feet and legs, and stature. Now we are breeding for smaller cows, since we are getting too big. Once we get what we want then they are mated off of their pedigree.

List three management strategies that have helped you attain your production and component level. Genetics, proper forage moisture and particle size, and balancing amino acids and fats.

Tell us about your farm and your plans for the dairy in the next year. We purchased our farm in 1997. We are currently milking 100 cows in 40 stalls. We milk with six units and switch 2.5 times. We usually make some kind of improvement to be more efficient, but do not have anything planned at this point.