r/dairyfarming

I've been doing sheep (and a bit of beef) work on-and-off for the last two years and I've really enjoyed it but the job instability with it mostly being seasonal work is stressful. I'm also having some trouble with my elbow joint and I think turning sheep constantly isn't helping. I'm thinking of trying dairy work - ideally a GFW role.

What do you dairy fellows have to say about dairy? Tell me everything - share your wisdom with me.

A bit of a weird situation here I just moved to Iowa to attend college and I am origianally from wisconsin. my parents own a dairy farm and have some normande cattle and i have a lineback herd myself. I have decreased my herd but I have one cow that i refuse to get rid of she is genuinly an amazing cow and has great genetics. I plan to live in iowa long term and am currently in an aparment so i have 2 options either find a boarding facility that takes cows or keep her at my parents now I was leaning towards just keeping her in wisconsin for a while but ive done that with previous cattle and they turned very aggressive very qiuick under their care which leads me to want to bring her to iowa and try to find somewhere to board her. does anyone have any ideas or any boarding centers that i could consider? thanks!

First time posting here, don't really do the forum thing much, but figured I'd ask people who'd actually know.

350 head, free-stall, robotic milkers, Upper Midwest. Just running the basic robot software, never bothered with a full herd management system.

Been catching lameness too late lately, usually not till a cow's already off and I'm calling the trimmer. Conception's been kind of rough too, though I know summer heat stress plays into that every year, just not sure how much of it is actually us missing heats versus that.

Looked at collars (Nedap, Allflex) but tagging 350 cows plus subscription is a lot to commit to blind. Ruled out bolus systems too, not sticking something in every cow.

Now looking at the camera stuff, GEA, Herd-i and so on. Like the idea of no hardware on the animal, but want to hear from guys actually running it before I call anybody.

Does the lameness scoring actually hold up against what your vet or trimmer would call it? And heat detection specifically, seems like a camera would miss standing heat if a cow's lying down or off in a corner. Anyone had luck with that, or still not there yet compared to a collar?

What kind of info does the system actually spit out day to day, and is any of it stuff you use, or is most of it noise you end up ignoring?

Also what'd you pay once install was done, and is there an actual person to call if something breaks?

Hi I've just moved to Cornwall, there are plenty of farms here but does anyone know where I can source a few gallons of raw milk?

I'm really into cheese making and want to start doing it again, you can make it from goldtop but I'd really rather contribute locally. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

I’m wanting to sell raw milk for my friend with whom I share a cow. Is a written share contract all I need, to sell from my own property? I will not be advertising.

Im not a farmer, but on tumblr theres a blog made by Scout, a dairy farm worker, animal science student and later owner of a small dairy farm who for years has posted about their experience working with cows. I really looked up to them as a source of information.

But recently theyve come under fire for images of the pasture on their farm showing bits of junk, with concern being raised for threatening the welfare of their cows.

These images:

https://preview.redd.it/mks4942dr7ih1.png?width=922&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c39f97abb1afe841317ca4ebfdc69dcb26285cd

https://preview.redd.it/zrtyxuyer7ih1.png?width=922&format=png&auto=webp&s=c498b61e90a6c8e8b7410046a0678f77fcdd4717

https://preview.redd.it/bi7qws3kr7ih1.png?width=922&format=png&auto=webp&s=96a7082a6257e96c60443fd7e230df0be5570b5d

https://preview.redd.it/11s7lk7lr7ih1.png?width=922&format=png&auto=webp&s=185a43f574e1737efa9db90a06bc2cb2d539e150

Also, the fact that that based on their posts, 34 out of 65 cattle theyve bought during 5-6 years have died or are unaccounted for has been brought up as a red flag.

There are a lot of people defending Scout, saying that pastures dont always look stereotypically idyllic and mud and junk is quite common.

Do the photos show an unsafe setup, and is it a red flag for 34 calves out of 65 bought to die during a 6 year period?