Student blog: milking 4,500 cows in South Dakota

I am from a small village called Monagear, Co Wexford, and grew up on a suckler beef and sheep farm.

I am currently undertaking an internship at Drumgoon Dairy South Dakota, US, which is owned by Irish natives Rodney and Dorothy Elliott.

To say the least, I am having the time of my life and have learned an incredible amount just weeks into my internship.

I began my placement in mid-March and so far, it has been an unbelievable experience, it has been a real eye opener for me and I would encourage any student or individual with an opportunity to travel to do so.

Farm operation

The farm is divided into two dairies, Drumgoon and Norden.

In total, 4,500 cows are being milked between the two barns. This week in Norden, there were 2,108 cows milked three times daily equating to a total of 6,324 individual milkings per day.

The somatic cell count (SCC) was 190,000 due to the high number of fresh cows. The butterfat was 3.8% and protein was 2.97%.

In Drumgoon this week, on average there were 1,911 cows milked three times daily equating to 5,733 individual milkings.

The somatic cell count (SCC) for Drumgoon was 120,000 with butterfat of 3.85% and protein of 3.17%.

Maternity ward

Since arriving, I have been working as part of the maternity team work with the maternity manager.

My working day begins at 6am and finishes at approximately 6pm, depending on the day.

I have been following strict protocol devised by the managers and learning how to correctly deal with newborn calves before they are taken to an out-farm where they are brought through to approximately 24 weeks old.

Attention to detail

Attention to detail is what most stands out to me with efficiency and precision being major focus points here at Drumgoon, eg a mortality rate of 3% to 4% being achieved year on year, which on a herd of 4,500 cows is outstanding.

In the coming weeks, I will be moving to the post-partum cow department of the dairy, which I very much look forward to and overall improving my knowledge on the precise management of cows after they have calved and treating diseases such as mastitis, ketosis, clostridium and metritis.

Education

In March, I attended the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls where I attended talks and conferences on topics such as “Growing the right size replacements at the right time for life-long productivity’’ presented by Mike Hutjens, dairy specialists at University of Illinois.

I also attend a talk present by Richard L. Wallace on the topic of maximising lifetime value of heifers through efficient reproduction.

I look forward to filling you in on my experience here in South Dakota and in the UK where I will complete a harvest on a 6,500ac arable crop farm in the coming months.

’It’s time for young farmers to look at how other nations operate’

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