Date/Time
Date(s) - Friday, August 9, 2019
12:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location
Richland Dairy
Categories No Categories
Faribault, MN (July 11, 2019)— University of Minnesota Extension will host a Dairy Field Day on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at Richland Dairy near Kenyon as part of Extension’s Summer Dairy Series.
Dairy producers and others interested in dairy production are invited to the University of Minnesota Extension’s Summer Dairy Series. There are a different field days available throughout the summer and across the state addressing a range of topics from organic dairy production, to dairy goats, to robotic milking systems. The local dairy field day is being held from 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm Wednesday, August 7th at Richland Dairy, 21546 Jacobs Avenue, Kenyon, MN
Richland Dairy is owned and operated by Alan and Andy Meyer. The Meyers started milking in 1974 and upgraded to robotics in the fall of 2010. They have recently made some more changes on the farm, following the September 2018 tornadoes that hit the area. They built the operation back up and were milking cows again 100 days after the tornadoes and some things changed as a result. They have new models of Lely robotic milkers and a new feed pusher. The footprint of the damaged barn is the same, but the barn now has improved natural ventilation with better openings and a chimney system which keeps the barn warmer in winter months. They’ve noticed that their new robotic milkers are faster; the cows train easier on these new milkers, the arm is faster, and the cows enter and exit more quickly. The Meyers milk 120 cows, and with their previous milkers, that meant 1 hour of the day of “down time”. With the newer milkers, there’s closer to 5 hours. They sell calves and buy heifers back at a year old, so in addition to their 120 cows, they have about 60 heifers and 20 dry cows.
The Meyers will be giving tours of their operation accompanied by speakers from the University.
Registration is free, and the event begins at 12:30 pm. After the tour, Jim Salfer, U of MN Extension Dairy Educator and other members of the U of MN Dairy Team, will lead discussion on a variety of topics including robotic milking, disaster preparedness, and management decision-making.
The Summer Dairy Series is held by U of MN Extension in conjunction with Minnesota Dairy Initiative. An RSVP for the event is not required, but is requested by July 31st ; please contact Claire LaCanne at 507-332-6165, or email lacanne@umn.edu.
