I work as a RE Appraiser in north Florida and feel with dairies every once in a while. I’ve learned a lot over the years, but I’m not clear on the difference between a loafing barn and a free-stall barns. I’ve had farmers describe them essentially interchangeably and generally just go with what they call theirs as these are generally heavily depreciated and the difference is minimal impact on value.

Is the presence of feeding troughs the main difference or am I missing some other key factors?

For me, it would be when an ol lady caught her ankle around some loose fence wire and bruised it badly, we gave her a few weeks, but then we guess she stepped in a hole or something and when I was pushing cows in from pasture for morning milking, her ankle was hanging by a few pieces of skin, sadly but thankfully she was put down pretty soon after.

I'm doing a project for my Animal Science class, and I was wondering if anyone has any photos of, or knows where to find photos of Holsteins that classify poorly (like below 65 points). It's super easy to find photos of excellent cows, but most farms don't want to show off their bad cows. Thank you!

Every farm needs a dog or two, and one of my two labs is getting long in the tooth, so we were thinking about getting a new dog in the near future? What breed or dog do you have, and what is your experience with dairy farm dogs?

The main ethical arguments against dairy farming appear to be:

1. Male calves: Male dairy calves are expendable and are either killed immediately or sold to veal farms. Sexed sperm and the use of beef sperm can minimize this issue, but they are far from the standard practice.

2. Female cows are sold to slaughter when their production drops. So, instead of living out their natural lifespans (~20 years) they are killed without even reaching middle age.

As dairy farmers, how do you feel about these concerns?

So many posters on this sub talk about how much they love cows. Please help me understand.

I'm hoping to network with other dairies or labs that are using the VetMAX CORE extraction (manual and automated methods) for bovine mastitis testing. I'm having issues with the PCR runs.

Is it possible/ effective to use a poultice with abscesses on dairy cattle? I'm thinking about the large pads that can be used as a wet or dry poultice. They are labeled for use with dogs and horses and I have seen them work incredibly well for both. I'd love to know if there is a similar product for cattle to treat hoof/ leg/hock abscesses.

I recently came across a TikTok about a milking robot. I suddenly had a naughty thought. I immediately check the comments section. I wasn't the only bloke.

!Being perpetually horny, I have now become infatuated with this idea of hopping in for a go in a milking robot. I don't know what sort of operational challenges I would face, but I can imagine how this all would logistically play out in fantasy land. Like obviously unethical to contaminate with bad milk, the robot has cleaning and disinfecting features.!<

!Like people who've worked around these machines, could you kindly indulge me with your experiences? What sort of details could I add to fantasy land to make it more realistic and feeling in-reach? like any particular sensors, expected programming, where the E-stop is etc.!<

!My questions is, have any of you farmers have had a naughty thought around a milking machines.!<

!DM me if you'd like to share.!<

https://www.tiktok.com/@korndog4u/video/7087410474349808938?lang=en

I work on a dairy farm with 200 Lactating Holsteins. I am the only employee (aside from the family) and we have 4 Deleval Robots. Heifers, and cows in heat are obviously always going to be more "playful" and have some issues with boundaries lol. Though it can be annoying to have to defend yourself from being licked or followed way to close, this doesn't bother me and is mostly amusing.

..... But this one cow.... She legitimately hates me. I don't know why. She's always had boundary issues and wanted to be way to close all the time, but was harmless and generally backed off if I'd get behind her and give her a smack on the butt. That was untill she calved for the second time. Now she full on seeks me out. She follows me with her head down and her ears pinned and if I don't immediately move away from her she will start head butting me and pushing me around. It's terrifying. Physically she is a great cow and a high producer but she seems to have a real issue with me for some reason lol. For context, I am a 25 year old woman and all other people on the farm are men. She does not act like this with the men on the farm. Only me.

Is there something I can do to win this cow over, or at least be able to work alongside her without being terrified. It's like she knows I'm weaker than her lol. Help me rebuild my relationship with #407. We need cow/farmer therapy.

Hi all! My name is Lydia Ryder. I am a junior studying animal science at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I am in an animal science statistics class where we must collect accurate data about a specific topic from farms. My group and I are surveying people who own dairy farms about whether they use beef semen on their dairy farms. If YOU or SOMEONE you know uses beef semen on your farm, please help our group and answer our short survey about using beef semen on your dairy farm. My group would really appreciate it!

https://forms.gle/GeZAncSg2Y2ViNnT7

Hello, I am a student at the U of MN and created a survey my undergrad stats class. I am learning about data collection and how to create a survey.

My survey anonymously collects data about the affects and treatment of the Avian Flu that lactating dairy farms are taking.

If you are willing, here is the link to my survey. Thanks! https://forms.gle/7GeifX3RGmMygU4EA

The milk truck driver told me they've bumped his routes around so now he's hauling to a different plant. Apparently there's American milk coming up to Canada to be processed then shipped back as cheese from one of the Parmalat plants. Just wondering if a plant is down or something? What might be going on?

First, some background: I have never really had a nice relationship with my neighbors. In addition to being extremely careless drivers and terrible animal caretakers.

Nevertheless, my brother and I went to see if the calf in the paddock was indeed alone after my neighbors must have left it there or forgotten it. Since it was, I reasoned that perhaps it was a genuine mistake and would let them know. When I told my neighbors that the calf was alone, they told me that they were aware of it and that they weren't interested in moving it with its mother, which would have taken ten minutes on average because the paddock where the other cows were kept wasn't that far. But even after I told them, they continued to leave that poor calf alone.

Even though this calf depends on its mother for sustenance, my neighbors don't seem to care if it dies. It's now later in the evening, and I can hear the mother cow mooing, which is heartbreaking. Therefore, is it OK for my neighbors to treat their cattle in this manner?

Our farm is moving to milking three times a day soon, we are currently milking twice a day at 4:30 am and pm, and in the very near future we will milk at 4 am, noon and 8 pm. What should we know about switching over that might not seem obvious? Obviously dairy cows like their consistency, so are there any tips that will make the transition easier on them in the short term?

Hi, I am from Georgia, I am a newbie and would like to learn and practice dairy farming, I need some advice on where and how to start. Any sought guidance would be appreciated !!!!

Image from bworldonline

In a report, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said overall dairy imports are forecast to rise to 3.1 million metric tons (MMT) in liquid milk equivalent for 2025 from 3.05 MMT this year, mainly due to increased shipments of skim milk powder.

The Philippines typically imports 99% of its dairy requirements as domestic production cannot meet demand.

Link to the article: https://www.bworldonline.com/agribusiness/2024/10/28/630818/dairy-imports-expected-to-grow-next-year/

I was hoping for a picture of a unicow or something :-)

Hello everyone! 👋

I’m Paul Windemuller, a dairy farmer from Michigan, Nuffield Scholar researching artificial intelligence in ruminant livestock, and passionate agripreneur.

I’ve spent years diving deep into the world of agriculture, and through my work, I’ve seen the importance of innovation, resilience, and community in our industry. That’s why I started the AgCulture Podcast—a platform dedicated to sharing the stories of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and innovators shaping the future of agriculture.

Our goal is to inspire and inform anyone who’s as passionate about agriculture as we are, whether you’re a farmer, a researcher, or someone interested in ag’s future.

If you’re interested in hearing firsthand experiences, expert insights, and candid conversations, I invite you to check out the AgCulture Podcast! Let’s keep the conversation going and grow this incredible community together. 🚜🌾

👉 Listen here: linktree.com/agculturepodcast

Let me know what you think, and I’d love to hear any ideas or topics you’d like to see us explore!

#AgCulturePodcast #Agripreneur #InnovationInAg #NuffieldScholar #AgricultureCommunity

Here in New England, I've seen 4-H'rs raise them - in fact we had a pair in my town who just hung out in a field together for years after the kid who raised them went off to college.

Anyone here ever raised, had, used oxen? What are they like, compared to dairy cows or draft horses? Did you like working with them?

I’m not a dairy farmer but I want to understand the mentality of dairy farmers. It seems like backbreaking work and quite repetitive which is analogous to a factory worker. But a lot of dairy farmers love their work which I can’t wrap my head around.

In the future, let’s say money lost its meaning because you got everything you wanted, would you still do this type of work “for free”, in a form of altruistic motivation ie feeding humanity? Let’s say that robots couldn’t do your job.

Doing personal research on implications of post scarcity society and meaning.

I’m looking for a screen replacement part for a MobileDemand xTablet Flex 10B. Thanks!

For my ag sales class we have to interview a producer/purchaser about their experiences with salespeople.

The interview should be ~10 minutes long and voice only is acceptable. Our teacher wants us to record for proof purposes only. The interview would be me asking questions from a list I've already made.

I'm US central time, and evenings would work best for me.

Thanks in advance.

Hi guys am looking for an efficient cow milking machine. Can you kindly offer recommendations

My dad started a business manufacturing rapid tests for antibiotic residue in milk, he is not a great sales person, and I'm really want to help him out with this, but I have never even been on a farm once 🙈🙈 I'd really appreciate if you guys could help me with a few answers. How wide spread these tests are? Would every farm use something similar? Do you use them often at all? I'd be super grateful for any information!

i have had chickens for most of my life just to harvest their eggs. they have always been free range and i normally walk out the door every morning and see them as a pet.

within the past few weeks/months 3 of the black chickens have stopped laying eggs and have been harming the brown ones (ripping feathers out and ganging up on them) and they are causing problems and harm to the other hens.

i need to get rid of them in the most humane way possible but i cant get my head around to doing it. ive seen people chop their heads off and stuff like that but it seems to violent and painful. the way that would make me feel the least bad would be shooting them with a rifle and a revolver at the same time. but im worried this wont get the job done and they wont die instantly.

what do i do?