鹌鹑岭奶牛场的奶牛优先方针
奶牛进出挤奶室的缓慢流动使鹌鹑岭奶牛场运转顺利.
作者:辛西娅·克兰顿
A black-and-white river flows through the high plains of Colorado.
每天三次，平静地往返于牛棚和挤奶间, 6,000 Holsteins at Quail Ridge Dairy southeast of Fort Morgan move at their own pace, 默默贡献着他们的牛奶生产才能，同时乳品业也在蓬勃发展.
这一切都是由以牛为灵感的计划和85人的团队提供的，他们澳门皇冠赌场平台着动物舒适的每一个细节, 在保持愉快心情的同时, 有益的工作环境.
奶牛的舒适促进了乳制品生产
“我真的很喜欢系统，我喜欢效率,玛丽·克拉夫特说。, 她和她丈夫一起拥有并澳门皇冠赌场平台着鹌鹑岭奶牛场, 克里斯, 和儿子, Stratton. “我们一直在思考动物的行为，以及如何利用它让动物感到舒适.”
The interconnected facility keeps labor to a minimum and avoids bottlenecks. “我只要打开一扇门，它们就会进入下一个围栏. I could move every animal in the heifer lot in two hours working alone.”
In the double-50 parallel milking parlor, Kraft leverages the herd instinct. “如果奶牛能看到彼此的话, 大家一起行动，不要太快, they’ll be more comfortable and will let down their milk faster. 一边有50头牛, if two or three take an extra four or five minutes to milk, 这减慢了整个谷仓的速度.”
员工的舒适度也是首要考虑因素. 挤奶厅的地板被加热以保持干燥，中心脊的设计使空气流入房间并通过屋顶流出，以获得舒适的温度，而不会因电力通风而产生穿流. 奶牛周围的警卫使奶牛的尾巴和脚与八人挤奶队保持安全距离, 同时提供方便的准备和挤奶任务.
每头奶牛都有一个应答器，可以收集产奶量、繁殖日期等数据. 每个挤奶站都有一个计算机系统，当奶牛需要注意时，挤奶工就会发出警报. 后挤奶, 这些奶牛和其他需要晒干的奶牛会自动通过一个穿梭门转移到一个围栏，重新分配到晒干的奶牛群或农场的医院设施.
“That technology means we have a no-stress environment,克拉夫特说. “我不想让奶牛因为我们做得太快或不加思考而受伤. And employees, who are busy with 12 other things, don’t have to remember it all.”
稳定的生产数据流还能帮助她发现奶牛的产奶量何时滞后. “Every cow has a unique threshold based on past performance. I know how much milk she gave on every shift since she started milking. 我想要的就是每头奶牛每天产的牛奶. If she’s going to keep her spot, she needs to produce 10 gallons a day.
“We’re all interested in how big our carbon footprint is — well, your footprint gets bigger when you have a cow that’s not making the milk she should. 她在利用澳门皇冠赌场平台，而不是做出贡献.”
一体化牛奶生产系统
高效的设置意味着每头奶牛在大约10分钟内进出挤奶室. “我们想让她恢复健康, 一个她可以反刍的舒适地方, 她想吃多少就吃多少, 有自由选择的水，和她的朋友一起出去玩,克拉夫特说.
Most of the cows’ time is spent in one of the farm’s five airy freestall barns, 每个农场有两组奶牛，每组450头. They have access to outside lots when fine weather beckons.
不停地往返于挤奶间, the freestall barns are only empty for about 25 minutes at a time. 奶牛不在的时候，工人们会整理床铺，添加饲料. 每天早上4点.m.，将铺位刮干净，并添加新鲜饲料.
The bedding is produced by the farm’s on-site waste management system. 当奶牛待在原地时，自动刮刀系统每45分钟清洗一次自由式谷仓的地板, moving so slowly that cows can step over the scraper without startling. A center gutter collects waste and directs it into a screw separator.
废水被用来运输废物, with overflow sent to a lagoon until it’s used to irrigate and fertilize the farm’s 1,500英亩作物面积, which produce about one-third of its annual forage needs. 灌溉在这个干旱地区是必不可少的, 哪个地区每年通常有15英寸的湿度, although the past year was an exception with 34 inches of snow, 潮湿的春天和有记录以来最潮湿的六月.
Waste solids are composted in windrows arrayed on a concrete pad. 这些行被频繁地翻转以吸收氧气，加速堆肥过程.
“堆肥需要六到八周的时间，”卡夫说. “The compost reaches about 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which kills harmful microorganisms. 我们最终只剩下原来的三分之一，堆肥形成了一个柔软的床，适合奶牛的生长.”
这个农场进行了甲烷消化试验, 但它并没有成为废物澳门皇冠赌场平台系统的一部分，因为当甲烷产生时, 这个消化器不能生产无菌产品, 干床上用品. “从蒸煮器出来的固体是湿的, 所以我们必须再次进行堆肥,她解释道.
注重细节
需要特殊照顾或即将分娩的动物可以搭乘交通工具往返于主奶牛场和一英里外的小型旱地奶牛场之间. 较小的场地包括1人的挤奶室,500 cows and handles all maternity and veterinary functions.
员工们24小时轮班工作, 每天处理20到30头新生小牛, helping cows recover from calving and treating any illnesses or injuries. They handle standard veterinary procedures with oversight by a veterinarian.
“We are always looking to prevent problems and we vaccinate like crazy,克拉夫特说. “We pay attention to nutrition to avoid problems due to diarrhea, 移位的皱襞和类似的东西.” Monitoring urine pH on dry cows helps determine when ration changes are needed.
兽医支持的重点是分析数据，以发现问题领域并提高产量. “我想让我的兽医帮我们弄清楚，我们的产奶量是否比预期少了1%，或者跛牛的数量是否比预期多了1%.”
口粮是基于玉米片和包括小麦中粮在内的一系列循环副产品, 干酒糟及可溶物, 菜籽粕和大豆壳. 使用液体补充和湿酿酒谷物有助于结合干成分，以减少风损失和增加适口性.
总部位于科罗拉多州洛夫兰的Agfinity合作社., 提供高能量的特色成分，支持瘤胃功能，促进奶牛新陈代谢, 另外还为小牛提供了一种饲料谷物混合物.
克拉夫特说:“我们喂养的特殊脂肪会改变奶牛代谢成分的方式。. “We watch body condition scores and pair that with production. 这说明她对饲料的利用有多好. If we’re feeding her to make 100 pounds of milk and she’s only putting in 80 pounds, 她没有正确使用营养物.”
有机增长
The drylot dairy site was where the Krafts started farming in 1988 with 100 cows, 老旧的建筑和破旧的栅栏. “We’re very organic in our growth, so everything we did here, we grew. If we got 10 extra bucks, it went into the parlor or into buying a cow,” she says.
他们的两个孩子在家里生活时，大量参与日常事务. 现在斯特拉顿是鹌鹑岭澳门皇冠赌场平台团队的第三位成员，也是他们的女儿, 约旦, is director of agricultural innovation and partnerships at Colorado State University.
卡夫表示，增长并不总是那么容易. “We built this new site in 2007 and the economy fell apart in 2008. Learning how to run our small dairy operation is what got us here. We knew all the parts inside and out and could see the pitfalls and opportunities. 这让我们成为了优秀的澳门皇冠赌场平台者和业务开发人员.”
Beyond being an Agfinity owner, Kraft serves on the co-op’s board of directors. The farm sells milk through the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative. “我完全相信合作社. 团结起来，我们可以做我们单独做不到的事情.”
Her many leadership roles include chairing the Dairy MAX board, serving on a Colorado State University sustainability advisory board, 作为科罗拉多州牲畜协会的前任主席，并帮助联合国粮食和农业组织宣传牛奶的重要性.
“我很有社区意识. I want to put something back in the community bucket,” she adds. “这就是社区繁荣的方式，而不仅仅是生存.“卡夫每天都把这种服务理念和对效率和质量的热情带到她在鹌鹑岭乳业的工作中.
“About 90% of what we do here is answering key questions,” she adds. “我们有什么澳门皇冠赌场平台? 我们如何部署它们? 我们想用这个结果做什么?’
作为一名经理, 你要考虑所有可能的组合，并决定什么对你的位置有意义, 你能得到的基因, 由于牛奶价格，美元可用, 等. 当你年复一年的做好工作, 做出微小的改变, 要实现巨大的飞跃是很难的, 但是你有稳定的进步.”
澳门皇冠赌场平台技巧
提高效率是一种“寸”游戏. 玛丽卡夫, 鹌鹑岭奶牛场的合伙人, Fort Morgan, Colo.，提供了一些见解:
优化基因
减少产犊困难, speed genetic improvement and leverage profit opportunities, 该农场使用初产小牛的性精液来生产雌性小牛，并为安格斯公牛培育年长的母牛, selling the crossbred bull calves into a branded beef program.
“We don’t keep offspring from a third- or fourth-lactation cow because, 坦率地说, 这些基因是古老的. 我希望她的继任者比她更优秀.”
确保免疫
新生牛犊的初乳是从新鲜奶牛身上采集的，以确保它们摄入至关重要的母体抗体，并控制成本. Colostrum is pasteurized in small batches, then refrigerated in bottles. 喂食前约15分钟, 将这些瓶子放入温水中，轻轻搅动它们，以帮助初乳达到完美的温度，激活但不会使初乳抗体变性.
“我完全相信巴氏灭菌法.“虽然这需要时间, “当你的牧群有这么大的时候, you’re going to throw away a lot of milk from fresh cows, 这看起来很蠢. Colostrum is super high in fat and helps bulletproof calves.”
告诉员工“为什么”
“I want them to make the same decision I would make if I were there. 只有当他们理解这个概念时，这才会发生. 因为我们的大多数员工在来之前都无法接触到这些信息, 我们为他们定制教育, including having a veterinarian come out to talk about pneumonia, 如何处理疫苗, 适当的断奶时间或清洁犊牛.”
向他人学习
“我们属于一个乳品旅行团, 所以我们可以去看别人的设施，然后问, “你为什么要这样做??’ That transparency and trading knowledge makes us all better managers.”
请查看完整的 2023年秋季C杂志 随着这篇文章和更多.
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