WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Farmers try to keep cattle cool in the heat
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Onalaska, WI (WXOW) - Even though temperatures are lower then Tuesdays dairy farmers are still struggling to keep their cattle comfortable and cool.
Heat stress begins to occur in dairy cattle when temperature reach 43 degrees.
Veterinarian Dr. Mike Houston said, "It's actually a lot easier to care for the cows in the winter then it is in the summer."
To keep cattle cool farmers will different methods to move air in and out of the barns.
Dr. Houston said, "Most of these barns with free stalls have open sides on the barns. There's a drape that comes up in the winter but in the summer the sides are completely open to allow as much free flowing air as possible through the barn to cool the cows off."
Fans are used to stimulate more air.
Dr. Houston said, "We have ventilation over the free stalls to keep the cows cool while they are laying down and then we have more ventilation over the feed bunks."
When temperatures outside reach 68 degrees the fans will start and when temperatures reach 80 degrees the sprinklers will turn on.
Dr. Houston said, "The sprinklers puts water on the backs of the cows to help cool them off immediately. It helps draw heat out the cow and then the fans, help evaporate the water and take that heat with it."
Dr. Houston says heat can cause cows to eat less which will cause them to drop in milk production, making them more prevalent to illnesses.
But the unique cooling methods allow the cows to be more comfortable in the summer so they can beat the heat.
Dr. Houston says most dairy farm operation have fans in place which will run constantly throughout the summer. But Houston says sprinklers are usually only installed at larger dairy farms.
