SEGMENT: LIVESTOCK CARE, LIVESTOCK, & FARM BUSINESS
Nate Janssen>ISM Interviews A-L>ISM Interviews A-L, Segment 21
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- LIVESTOCK
- When selecting cows, they look for their potential by looking at their ancestors, their production possibilities, and phenotypic characteristics they look for (good utters, sound legs). Sunshine Genetics from Wisconsin specializes in acquiring the embryos and sperm.
- FARM BUSINESS
- The milk market is cyclical. Down in '06, up in '07, steady in '08. They sell their milk to Grande Cheese in Wisconsin, who makes high end Italian cheese for pizza. Used to sell milk through a cooperative but changed because offered more money.
- LIVESTOCK CARE
- Keeping the cows healthy is most important. Comfort starts with their environment. The cows prefer cold weather. A feed specialist analyzes the feed to monitor how much vitamins and proteins they are getting. A few herdsmen work with the cows all day, looking for illnesses and keeping them healthy. Milking procedure is very important. There are two people in the milking parlor. One worker strips the utter and checks the milk. They put a disinfectant on the utter then towel it off and apply the milking unit. They work in groups of six cows. They have 625 cows to milk three times a day. First milking at 4 AM, second milking around noon, third milking around 8 PM.
