In Part 1 of the Modern Farming Series I talked about how providing a healthy, clean environment for our cows helps us to keep them healthy. Thus using fewer antibiotics because healthy cows do not need them. Today I am going to share with you a second part of how modern farming keeps our cows healthy. This is feed, or the food they eat.
I’m not sure about you, but I know I could always eat a bit healthier. I could eat less sugar and more vegetables. It would be much easier if I had someone that shopped and cooked for me because I wouldn’t even have to think about it. Christian Grey I am not. That means I do not have a 24/7 personal chef at my disposal. This is the idea we have in mind when we feed our cows. We know a healthy, balanced diet everyday is ideal for cows, just like us.
In order to make sure our cows have a healthy recipe we employ the help and expertise of a couple people. The first person is Steve our nutritionist. Steve’s job is to make diets for dairy cows. Yes, this is his professional job. He has many customers (cows and humans) and he has been a nutritionist for over 20 years. That sounds like a long time, but he doesn’t look a day over 30, trust me.
Steve evaluates all of the ingredients available on our farm. He sends samples out regularly to be tested in a laboratory where they can evaluate them down to the mineral content! After he knows what each ingredient has he then does what is called balancing a ration. We evaluate as a team what our goals are for the cows and then he makes up our recipe. His goal is to make sure with each bite of feed at the bunk or pellet in the robot the cow is getting exactly what she needs. Talk about precise and so important. Remember in the last one when I said cows love consistency. Cows love consistency in the feed too so we try to make sure it is made as identical as possible each day. When we make changes, we make them slowly in order to keep their tummies happy.
The next person we have is our employee Quin. Quin is our feeder. Each morning he gets here and his #1 priority to get all of the animals fed. He checks to see how much was left over from the day before. If there wasn’t anything left he would make sure to feed that pen more. If there was a lot left he might take it down some because they didn’t need quite that much. He then goes group by group and mixes up each recipe and dumps it in the bunk for the cows. His job is one of the most important jobs on the farm, although it takes everyone to make a farm run well.
Giving the cows a healthy, balanced diet each day helps to keep them healthy. When we keep their bodies fueled with exactly the nutrition that is needed, their immune system is maximized and they are able to fight off a lot of what they could be exposed to. By keeping them healthy and their immune system functioning on high we are minimizing our use of antibiotics.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of the Modern Farming Series! What is something else you want to learn about?
Modern Farming Series Part 1: We Use Prevention Versus Antibiotics
