MONROE - The University of Wisconswin-Extension Dairy Team, in cooperation with the Green County Milk Quality Council, will sponsor Dairy Facility Farm Tours Thursday, Aug. 25. The tours will feature an open house format in which dairy producers can visit any of five Green County farms between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The host farms for the tours have all made recent modernization improvements in their dairy facilities to increase productivity and animal comfort as well as reduce labor.
There will not be a central meeting place or any formal presentation. Farmers can simply select which farms they would like to visit on their own time schedule. A representative will be on hand at each farm to answer questions for the tour participants. Host farmer representatives will be on hand to share their experiences in the building process and to explain what they like about their facility and what they might change if they were to do it again.
Herd sizes featured on this year's tours range from 95 to 150 cows. For dairy producers interested in upgrading their milking facilities, the tours will include a double 8 herringbone parlor built inside a new building, as well as two retrofit swing 12 parabone parlors that were built inside existing dairy stanchion barns.
Several cattle housing configurations will also be featured on the tours, including three- and four-row freestall barns and a bedded pack system. Two heifer replacement facilities for baby calves and younger heifers will also be featured on this year's tours. One heifer facility is a new 40-foot by 80-foot post frame building that houses both baby calves in individual pens and heifers up to breeding age. The older heifers are housed on a bedded pack with outside drive-by feeding. The other heifer facility included on the tour is a 38-foot by 100-foot coverall heifer building that houses replacements from birth to 11 months of age.
The following farms will be available to tour.
n Steve Hartwig farm, W2683 Nye Road, Albany (150 cows)
Anderson Dairy, N6799 County D, Monticello (100 cows)
Marie and Jeff Ditzenberger (Mar-Reyz-Ditzy Dairy), W7396 Grossen Road, Monticello (130 cows)
Don and Marlis Silver Dairy: N6585 Silver Road, Monticello (95 cows)
Binder Dairy: W3603 Towns Road, Monticello (135 cows)
The farm descriptions, along with tour maps showing the farm location, can be received by contacting Mark Mayer, UW-Extension Dairy and Livestock Agent at (608) 328-9440 or can be printed online at green.uwex.edu. Maps and farm descriptions will also be available at all of the host farms on Aug. 25.
The host farms for the tours have all made recent modernization improvements in their dairy facilities to increase productivity and animal comfort as well as reduce labor.
There will not be a central meeting place or any formal presentation. Farmers can simply select which farms they would like to visit on their own time schedule. A representative will be on hand at each farm to answer questions for the tour participants. Host farmer representatives will be on hand to share their experiences in the building process and to explain what they like about their facility and what they might change if they were to do it again.
Herd sizes featured on this year's tours range from 95 to 150 cows. For dairy producers interested in upgrading their milking facilities, the tours will include a double 8 herringbone parlor built inside a new building, as well as two retrofit swing 12 parabone parlors that were built inside existing dairy stanchion barns.
Several cattle housing configurations will also be featured on the tours, including three- and four-row freestall barns and a bedded pack system. Two heifer replacement facilities for baby calves and younger heifers will also be featured on this year's tours. One heifer facility is a new 40-foot by 80-foot post frame building that houses both baby calves in individual pens and heifers up to breeding age. The older heifers are housed on a bedded pack with outside drive-by feeding. The other heifer facility included on the tour is a 38-foot by 100-foot coverall heifer building that houses replacements from birth to 11 months of age.
The following farms will be available to tour.
n Steve Hartwig farm, W2683 Nye Road, Albany (150 cows)
Anderson Dairy, N6799 County D, Monticello (100 cows)
Marie and Jeff Ditzenberger (Mar-Reyz-Ditzy Dairy), W7396 Grossen Road, Monticello (130 cows)
Don and Marlis Silver Dairy: N6585 Silver Road, Monticello (95 cows)
Binder Dairy: W3603 Towns Road, Monticello (135 cows)
The farm descriptions, along with tour maps showing the farm location, can be received by contacting Mark Mayer, UW-Extension Dairy and Livestock Agent at (608) 328-9440 or can be printed online at green.uwex.edu. Maps and farm descriptions will also be available at all of the host farms on Aug. 25.
