Wisconsin dairy cows relax in sand, drink bovine Gatorade and visit the cow 'car wash' to beat summer heat

As the sun rises over Redrock View Farms, third-generation dairy farmer Cody Carpenter knows that today's going to be a hot one — not just for him, but for his 600 cattle, too. The Darlington native and his family have been working all week to mitigate the effects of this week's heat wave on their herd. 

"With farming, we are at the mercy of the weather. We have learned to take what hurdles Mother Nature gives us and make the best of it," Carpenter said. "Most of what we've been doing — and will continue to do this week — is make sure the cows are as cool and as comfortable as possible."

According to Jessica Cederquist, the administrator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's dairy herd, dairy farmers plan well in advance for extreme weather conditions.

In fact, most planning happens before the barns are even built.

The cows at Redrock live in a free-stall environment. This means the cattle are all housed within large barns where they're able to eat, drink and lie down whenever they want.

Emmons Blaine Dairy Cattle Research Center, which houses some of the University of Wisconsin herd, also uses a free-stall environment. Carpenter graduated from the university.

As opposed to an open pasture, Carpenter said the free stall environment makes it easier to manage the herd and control the climate. Cederquist added that even when cows have access to pasture, the shade and fans throughout the barn are more appealing to the animals in periods of extreme heat. 

"When building facilities, we are very strategic in how we lay them out. To get the best natural airflow, the sides of the barns have a curtain that can be rolled up or down to make sure that the animals can be shaded from the sun. If we are getting a good breeze, we can open up the curtains more to get good airflow," Cederquist said. 

What the cows lay in also makes a difference. At both farms, the cows are currently bedded in sand.

"Similar to you and I going to the beach, when the top of sand is hot because of sunshine, we dig our toes in because it's nice and cool. It’s the same for the cows. Cows will nestle themselves down and wiggle around to get to a cool layer of sand," Cederquist said. 

At Emmons, employees usually bed the stalls — adding new sand — once a week. During periods of intense heat, they are bedding the stalls three or four times.

Most important, though, is keeping the cows hydrated.

Cows can drink upwards of 50 gallons of water a day, so making sure the animals have continual access to clean water is a must. 

At both farms, the troughs are equipped with a floating sensor that rapidly refills them as soon as the water level is 1 or 2 inches below the top of the drinking well. Workers routinely clean these water basins, which can see feed buildup or incidental manure exposure from day-to-day activities.

Redrock also boasts different amenities to help keep the cattle relaxed. Sprinkler systems can be found near all of the feeding areas so the cattle can cool down while they eat.

The herd even has access to special cow brushes. These large, rotating brushes work their way around the cow to remove dead hair, dirt and debris from cattle coats, which allows them to more effectively cool their bodies and put their energy into milk production. Think of it as a car wash for cattle.

Dairy farmers also watch for telltale signs of health problems.

Increased respiratory rates, open-mouthed panting and droopy eyes and ears are all signs of an unhappy heifer. "If a cow is breathing heavily, we can replenish electrolytes and rehydrate it with a bovine electrolyte mix — basically cow Gatorade," Carpenter said.

In addition, "all of our cows wear collars similar to Fitbits," Carpenter said. "This technology allows us to track how well a cow is doing health-wise."

The collars track three main things: rumination, activity and breathing. Rumination is the process by which cows regurgitate previously consumed feed and chew it a second time. Cows ruminate lying down; in fact, healthy cows can ruminate for more than nine hours per day.

By continually tracking these three factors through a phone app, Carpenter can gauge the overall comfort level of his herd and is alerted if a particular cow takes a turn for the worse. Emmons also uses an electronic tracking system via an ID chip in each cow's ear. 

With all that extra care, the effect of heat on a dairy cow can be eased, but not stopped.

"No matter how hard we try to keep animals cool, we do experience production and efficiency loss in the heat," Carpenter said. "Especially when the temperatures don't cool at night, we may lose up to 10 pounds of milk production per cow per day."

That's sobering news for the family-owned dairy farm, which supports eight full-time employees and the rest of the Carpenters.

Currently, the market price for milk is between $17 and $17.50 per 100 pounds of milk. While every farm is different, most farms need to make $17 to $18 per 100 pounds to break even.

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"So it's not a wonderful fiscal situation at the moment," Carpenter said.

But like so many dairy farmers, "this isn't just my job — it's my passion," he said.