Dairy operators may look, not buy at Expo
By Seth Nidever
snidever@HanfordSentinel.com
The latest dairy technology is regularly featured at Tulare’s World Ag Expo, and this year will be no different.
Offerings to be unveiled at the Feb. 10-12 event range from high-tech health-monitoring sensors implanted in cows to siliconized silage covers that do a better job of preventing spoilage.
But local dairy operators aren’t exactly jumping for joy.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of technology it is. Nobody can afford it. It’s kind of a moot point for dairymen right now,” said George Longfellow, owner of a dairy south of Hanford.
Longfellow predicted that low milk prices, higher feed costs and a weak dollar could make 2009 a tough year for local dairy operators.
Much of the technology being offered is not new, according to Longfellow.
Longfellow uses an electronic ID tag that goes around cows’ necks. He also uses some of the newer silage coverings that reduce oxygen intake that spoils the top layer of silage.
Silage is fermented feed usually covered in huge aboveground piles that keep for months. The piles are a common site around rural Kings County.
One new technology being offered at the ag show is a sensor that can be attached or implanted to a cow’s rear leg to monitor their health.
Dino Giacomazzi, who runs a dairy on Sixth Avenue, east of Hanford, said he had never heard of a system like that.
Giacomazzi said his workers monitor milk cows the old-fashioned way — by immediate contact.
“They see their faces. They watch them walk,” he said. Giacomazzi said he already uses Silostop, the siliconized tarp, on his silage piles.
Commenting on plastic calf “hutches” used to protect newborn calves and shield them from disease, he said he builds his own out of wood.
He might be buying some new field equipment at the show, but he’s not betting on it.
This year could be the “worst ever” for local dairies, he said.
Steve Nash, a dairy farmer near Selma, said leg sensors have been tried for years, but are often damaged and thus don’t work well.
He thinks electronic ear tags are a better bet.
He’s already using the newer silage covering, which he claims has cut silage loss by 60 percent.
Nash, like Giacomazzi, doesn’t go in for high-tech sensor systems on cows.
“In today’s milk environment, that’s not even a thought. Milk prices are extremely low,” he said.
Last year, Nash went to the show and bought larger fans to keep his cows cooler in blazing summer heat.
This year, he’s considering buying an electronic ear-tag ID system to keep better track of his cows and potentially cut down on labor costs. If he can afford it.
“We’re starting off (2009) as low as we can go,” he said.
(Jan.15,2009)
