New local milking setup.

gab · Jan 27, 2017

This is a few miles south of me in N ILL. They started a year ago last fall. Took pictures a month ago, went past today and there still building, been told it's for 600 cows. They must be planning on milking, they chopped a big pile of silage last fall. Must have my camera screwed up again.

chuck machinist · Jan 27, 2017

Looks like it might be near Freeport. CM

paul · Jan 27, 2017

Kinda small really. Well that 'in between' size that gets lost.

Still a fair number of 60-120 head dairy, but hey are fading fast. A family can handle the workload.

The new ones are 1000 to 3500 cows. A company with a workforce can handle that.

At 600 cows, they are in between on the ecconomics.

But dad quit milking before I came around, only had the house cow, so I don't know all that much!

Paul

Gary from Muleshoe · Jan 27, 2017

We have 5,000 head dairies here. One dairy I go by every day is running two parlors 24/7. And I thought I was busy milking 80 head twice a day by myself

504 · Jan 27, 2017

I read a story about robots can do the milking and feeding. The gentleman stated that it could run without anyone being there at all.

Bob Harvey · Jan 27, 2017

WOW ! Staff could be a problem, BUT, just think about the cost of 3 legged stools and buckets !

centash · Jan 27, 2017

They do exist, not sure how long they would operate with no one there... .Ben

Fatjay · Jan 27, 2017

I saw a story on laser guide auto milkers the other day, where the cows are tagged, they walk in when they're ready. It washes the teets and uses lasers to line up and latch on. The cow enjoys milking, and walks out on her own when she's done. So they can control it, 1-5 a day, and the farmer can track what cows are in when, so they can track their health.

Here's one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQvYwxhZ-1Y

Dick · Jan 27, 2017

Like my dad used to say: The bigger you are the harder you fall. He used to say, if a disease was to wipe out my herd of 15 cows, I could survive. But if the same was to happen to a guy with 200 cows, he would be in bad shape, a lot worse than me.
Nowadays with huge herds of thousands of cows on one farm, what would happen? Government bailout? Maybe they have some kind of insurance to cover their loss.
Seems like something like this happened over in Europe a few years back, so it could happen here one day. Hope not, but..
Dick

gab · Jan 27, 2017

My neighbors brother has had a robot for close to 2 years. He took me over to see it and it works like you said. Cows come in to get some kind of irresistible sweet feed, they have an ankle bracelet tag the robot reads and allows them so many times to come in for their feed and get milked, around 5 times I think. It was only a couple weeks old when I was there and they was having some trouble with it, the old cows weren't falling for the sweet feed fix and the young ones were scared of the milker.

.

730virgil · Jan 27, 2017

where in northren il is this located? i am about 15 miles north of freeport

gab · Jan 27, 2017

You're quite the detective.

RodinNS · Jan 27, 2017

Judging by the pitch of the roof and the amount of snow on the ground.... I'd have to wonder if the roof will be laying in the manger before it ever sees a cow? That thing is going to hold a LOT of snow...

Rod

gab · Jan 27, 2017

North east of Freeport about 3 or 4 miles on 75 and east a couple miles. I don't know the farmer that's building it, think it's going to look nice when it's done.

oleclint · Jan 27, 2017

With me being from that area, it looks like this setup is about two miles south of Dakota. I got a look at it from about one mile away last summer. Gab, thanks for the pictures. clint

gab · Jan 27, 2017

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw it, isn't uncommon around here to get a foot of snow now and then.

gab · Jan 27, 2017

Add another mile or two and your in the neighborhood. Speaking of the neighbor hood I took a couple picts. last fall I think were you might recognize.

paul · Jan 27, 2017

Both hogs (baby pigs mostly) and poultry have had this happen in my area in the past couple years.

Entire barns wiped out.

I think they have the hog deal under control, but the bird one is a little sketchy, don't know that they ever really figured that one out completely.

Paul

oldsarge · Jan 27, 2017

C'mon now. 15 miles north of Freeport is Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Philip d · Jan 28, 2017

Things go to pot pretty quickly if left unattended too long. You have to tend to your cows,you can rearrange your chore schedual to suit your daily needs at the end of the day you still need to look after your cows on a daily basis.

notjustair · Jan 28, 2017

I wondered the same thing. I think it would go down in the big ones we have every few winters. Hard to get a little wind to blow snow off that.

Bruce from Can. · Jan 28, 2017

If that building has a steel frame, I wouldn't worry too much about the roof being too flat, as compared to a wooden truss roof. Wet heavy snowfall, with no wind, followed by a rain, could send a crew up there to do some shovelling still.

Geo-TH,In · Jan 28, 2017

Fair Oaks in N W Indiana has a mega dairy operations and a pig operation. Neat place to tour.
dairy and pig

730virgil · Jan 28, 2017

not hardley i am a mile and half from the wisconsin state line

730virgil · Jan 28, 2017

yea west on me near warren apple river area.
i know a some people that have wind turbines one guy told me "i laugh all the way to the bank when the check comes".

730virgil · Jan 28, 2017

would that be Meiers Meadow?
the sons have several children that are coming into the family farm business. i have been told they went in in a field and started from scratch.

mijohn · Jan 28, 2017

Great, With all the mega dairy's going in, maybe the milk will get cheaper in the store. We paid 79 cents a gallon for it in Michigan tonight.

730virgil · Jan 28, 2017

i don't think that is the family i'm thinking of.

gab · Jan 28, 2017

On Dakota road just North of river road.

New local milking setup.

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