Nova Scotia Dairy Blog

Production Innovation 101 Workshop

2016-06-15T10:30:00.001-03:00

Do you have a great new agri-food or seafood product idea burning a hole in your pocket, but you don’t know what to do with it next? Or maybe you’re still searching to find inspiration and want to learn more about what is possible in the world of value added food products?

Join Perennia Innovation Centre’s Chief Science Officer Eric Albert and Food Scientist

Emmanuel Anom along with business consultant Gary Morton to learn where to start and what to consider in developing a value-added product.

June 27th in Bridgewater

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre
135 North Park St, Bridgewater NS B4V 9B3
lunch provided

Topics to be covered:

The hottest topics trending in food around the world
A look at the new product development process and the value chain; idea to market launch
Mistakes new product developer’s make and how not to make them
Case studies of farm businesses developing new products
Brainstorming/discussion: what do you need to help move your products, ideas and innovations forward? What are your biggest challenges and limitations holding you back?

If you would like to attend please RSVP Gail at Perennia at (902) 678-7722, EXT 221 or gwalsh@perennia.ca by June 23^rd. There is no fee but we would like for you to register so we know we have a big enough room and enough food!

Rumen Scoring Dairy Cows

2013-01-24T21:42:00.001-04:00

There are many ways to score a cow's health and condition and I believe Rumen Scoring is one of the most important and easiest methods. Rumen Scoring dairy cows is a great tool for dairy producers as well as advisors to evaluate a cow's feed intake over the preceding 6 - 8 hours. Determining the score can help prevent a problem becoming worse, or arising in the first place. Body Condition Score (BCS) is a also a good tool, however it can take up to a month for the BCS to change and the damage may already be done.

Observing 1 or 2 cows in a group with a poor RS should lead you to look at what could be wrong with them as individuals, whereas if it is >10% of the group, then you need to start looking at the bigger picture and what is affecting the group, or herd as a whole.

RS is based on a scale of 1 (empty / hollow) to 5, (well rounded, full rumen). A cow in lactation should have a RS of 3, which shows she is maximising intake and rumen outflow is matching that. A score of 5 means that the rumen is very tight and full of forage and as a result, intake will be lower. Conversely, an RS of 1 means an empty rumen and the cow will not be matching her nutritional requirements. It is perfectly normal for a cow to have a RS 2 for the first week following calving until intake becomes normal.

Here is a short video on how to judge Rumen Score.

On farm I prefer to use RS over BCS because is because it tells me how that cow is doing right at that time and how she will be in the days and weeks ahead. A cow with a low BCS and a RS of 3 is doing well and BCS should either be maintained, or improve over time. However, a cow with a low BCS and a RS of 1 or 2 is on a slippery slope and her problems will only get worse. Just as importantly, we need to resolve a situation when a cow has a high BCS and a low RS to prevent rapid BCS loss, potential health problems and/or poor reproductive performance.

Potential reasons for low Rumen Score:

Molds or toxins
Lame cow
Unpalatable food
Not enough feed bunk space
Run out of feed
Recently calved (< 7 days)
Hardware
Low forage:concentrate
Injury
Submissive cow

Potential reasons for high Rumen Score:

High forage:concentrate

The Importance of Air

2012-10-15T12:15:00.000-03:00

It can be a difficult to keep fresh, dry and cool air around cows in the barn. As the temperature drops through the fall and winter dry and fresh air become the challenge. Humidity, a big element in Nova Scotia weather, causes wet stalls and floors and this results in mastitis, high cell count and lameness through digital dermatitis and heel horn erosion.

CowSignals

What do your cows tell you? Cows sticking their noses out of the door or window, or cows grouped near doorways can often be mistaken for curiosity when they are actually seeking fresh air. When this happens cows eat less and production drops. Fast breathing is one of the first symptoms of poor ventilation. A high producing cow should breathe between 10-30 times per minute.

One fast breathing cow (30- 60 times per minute), might be pain, fever, or inflammation of lungs. If you see more cows breathing fast the air is not good enough. Seeing a few cows standing in stalls is another signal. This can also mean lameness, poor bedding or bad stall design. With heat stress they stay on their feet to cool off by letting the breeze go around them.

If you come out of a barn and your clothes don’t smell of manure, the ventilation was ok. The air inside should be as fresh as outside.

The ideal temperature for a lactating dairy cow is 5-15°C. It is still bearable at -25°C; however a cow is in heat stress at + 22°C. Calves need warmer air - around 18°C for the first month. This makes it almost impossible to keep cows and calves happy and healthy in the same barn.

Where to put fans? The most important place for fans is over the close up cows (dry cows 3 weeks before calving). This is a high risk group. Second place is over the stalls. A cow should lie down for 14 hours each day in a well designed barn. That is a lot longer than the 6 hours cows spend at the feed bunk, which should be the last place for fans. If you put fans above the stalls it can be good idea to use a thermostat so they turn on automatically when the temperature rises above 18°C.

What fans are best? Vertical fans (big ass fans) move a lot of air, are very quiet and have a low energy requirement. They work best in high barns which aren’t too wide (4-6 rows), with 4-5 meter (13 – 16 feet) open sides. They need to suck in sufficient dry air from outside. If not they will only circulate the moist air. Horizontal fans will blow air about 10 x their diameter in distance. So, with 1 x 60 cm (24 inch) diameter fan you need put the next fan 6 meters (20 feet) away. Make sure you let fans bring in clean and dry air to cool the cow.

Free air is the cheapest. Build your barn on a hill for free wind cooling. Limit the number of walls in the barn and don’t put walls on the end of a row of stalls. Get as much free air as possible. Make the side openings at least 4 metres (13 feet) high and put in curtains.

Water cooling?

In hot and dry climates people will cool cows using water soakers or air misters. Only over 28°C might this be an option, but beware of cell counts and mastitis through bringing more humidity into the barn. In humid climates, a safer option is water cooling on top of the roof. The water stays out of the barn and the radiation and temperature under the roof will drop. This won’t work on insulated roofs.

Open your building, buy some fans and enjoy low cell counts and higher production next summer!

Lighting in Dairy Barns

2012-02-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

Light is one of the cheapest feeds you can offer to dairy cows…

Even though the days are noticeably longer at this time of year there is still scope to increase the intensity and hours of lighting in a dairy barn and see a positive response from it.

Within the CowSignals team, we advise 16 – 18 hours of light at 200 lux each day, with the remainder of the day at less than 50 lux. 50 lux is what you have with full moon on a clear night. The cow recognizes this as night.

What is the importance of light in the barn?
Firstly, having enough light enables better observation of cow signals. Can you detect signs of heat, lameness, blood and discharge? More light makes you feel happier too! So, turn on the light to see more.
Cows also like daylight and more light also means more feed intake. With more light cows also show better heat signs. They are more active and therefore easier to detect. Some producers have a timer on the lights that switches on in the barn half an hour before they arrive in the morning. Cows are then already in their normal daily activity. This makes it easier to observe cows for any signs of heat. Some producers turn on the lights for 24 hours per day, but this is a waste of money. We find a little more feed intake, but a lot less fertility. Cows need the change of day and night to let the eggs grow and release from the ovaries. 16 hours light per day gives the optimum feed intake and still a good day-night rhythm for max fertility.

Dry Cow Signals
Lactating cows need a lot of light, whereas dry cows more darkness. In their natural environment, cows used to calve in the spring after a dark winter. This had a positive effect on feed intake while grazing. What we do nowadays in our barns is change the season for the cows: long summers and short winters. Dry cows are best off in “winter” according to light. This maximizes the “light-shower” effect after calving. We can keep them in a dark building or dark corner for 6-8 weeks. That means that we should only turn the lights on for this group during daily inspection and bedding. However, it is preferable to keep the precalving cows close to the lactating herd for the last 2-3 weeks before calving for ease of feeding and stress prevention. So, the advice is to keep this group next to the herd and make a separate light switch for them.

Practical light programme
The best option is a light program with a timer and a sensor. For example:
timer on at 5 am, sensor to switch it off when we reach 200 lux with daylight, sensor on when light intensity drops under 200 lux, timer to turn it off around 10 pm. A little light at night does not harm the cows and is good for the farmer, so you can easily leave one light on at night. Or, in robot milking barns, leave one light on in the robot. Cows don’t need light to find the food or the robot, but a little light won’t harm them either.

What light do you prefer?
White or yellow? Colour of light is not so important and it can be your own choice so long as you have enough intensity. It has been said that cows are quieter with yellow or orange light. A disadvantage of yellow light is that urine, blood, discharge and milk all look similar in colour. Therefore, we prefer at least some white light in the calving area.
Mirror lights from the flower industry (more info: www.agrilight.com) have a good spread and are a lot better than old round lights.

Milk Parlour
Make sure you provide good light in the work place. In offices they provide more than 400 lux. In the parlour you can see many interesting CowSignals®, so use your time as well as efficiency by scoring cow behaviour, udders & teat ends, claw dirtiness, walking, standing, tap-dancing, position of claws.

Where do you place your lights?
Check your cows’ behaviour. Cows don’t like to go into a dark hole or corner. So also provide light in and around concentrate feeders, the feed bunk, drinkers and the exit lane of the parlour. Cows don’t like shattering light or reflection of light on metal plates, wet floors, food baths etc. Check this if cows don’t like to come into the parlour. They can also be scared of sudden changes or things that are on the floor that were not there yesterday. Light has to be everywhere in the barn.

How many lights do you need?
Per 100 cows you can choose:
50 fluorescent tubes = 150 lux through 1 tube per 2 cows
70 fluorescent tubes = 200 lux
12 metal halide lights= 200 lux

16 sodium lights (orange/yellow light) = 200 lux
The cheapest advice is turn on the lights, and clean the light tubes twice in the winter.
Lux meters are very cheap to buy and very good to convince you to put more light tubes in your buildings.

Remember: If you do what you always did, you get what you always got!
So do yourself a favour and: Look, Think and ACT! And let there be Light!

Feeding the Newborn Dairy Calf

2011-11-16T22:29:00.001-04:00

I want to share a protocol that I have used for some time now to get calves off to a good start.

This works well on farm and in particular where there more than 1 person would typically look after the calves.
Having a set, consistent plan by which all people follow makes the management of the calves easy and can help eliminate many problems:

1. Disinfect the navel
2. Offer 25+ litres of warm water to the cow. This can be mixed with some calf milk replacer
3. Remove calf from the dam to minimize risk of Johne’s disease
4. Feed colostrum to calf
5. Number the calf
6. Freeze extra colostrum

Colostrum
I find it is best to tube feed 3.5 liters of colostrum to the calf within the first 6 hours of life, followed by another 2 liters 12 hours later. The efficiency at which immunoglobulins are absorbed by the calf drops significantly from 100% in the first 6 hours to around only 20% after 18 hours. Extra colostrum can be frozen and fed at a later date to a newborn calf if its mother had poor colostrum, or was at risk of transmitting disease. Poorer quality colostrum can still be frozen and then fed to an older, sick calf since it still contains a large amount of antibodies. I recommend testing colostrum with a colostrometer to assess its quality. Click here to see a colostrometer and find out how to use one.

Milk
After 2 to 3 days on colostrum start the calf on cow’s milk or milk replacer. For the first 4 days the portions should not exceed 1.5 liters. Feed this three times a day, preferably through a teat. If it is in a bucket, make sure the milk is fed at 39°C to prevent ‘rumen drinking’ and scours. Over a period of 2 weeks this can be increased to between 6 and 10 liters per day.
The calf is ready to be weaned when it weighs at least 80 kg and is eating 1.5 kg of dry feed daily. An alternative to weighing the calf is to use a weigh tape, or a length of string with 2 knots 95 cm apart and wrap this around the girth of the calf directly behind its front legs when it is standing square. When the 2 knots meet, its weight is approximately 80 kg – about double its birth weight. Weaning can be done abruptly, weakening the milk until it is just water over the period of a week, or just feeding less volume each feed over a week until no more is offered.

Dry Feed
Offer a calf starter from day 5. Give a small quantity and refresh it each day.

Forage
Hay or straw should only be given once the calf is weaned when the rumen becomes more developed and the calf can then utilize forage as a feed source. I have seen many herds where the calves are fed wheat or barley straw as the only forage source through from weaning to joining the dry cows. This works very well in preventing excessive body condition gain – a problem all too often seen on many farms!

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them here or contact me at d.mosley@agrapoint.ca

Are Your Cows Eating Enough?

2011-10-20T14:01:00.000-03:00

Do any cows have empty rumens on your farm? It pays to make a daily check of the cow's feed intake, in particular the risk groups - the fresh and close up dry cows. Look on the left flank of the cow, behind the last rib. Do you see a hollow triangle? If so, this cow did not eat enough today and could well have some health issue.
Empty Rumen

For a cow in lactation there should be no hollowing of the rumen. The skin from the short ribs above the rumen should come down vertically for approximately 50mm (2 inches) and then form outward at an angle of around 20°.

Correct Rumen Score

Is she chewing each cud 55-70 times? Less than 55, in combination with an empty rumen can mean a lack of roughage in the diet. To check you should also push on the rumen to score the resistance. Soft and gassy is bad news, but very firm is best.
Rumen fill, Belly fill and Body condition score tells you what happened with the cow today, last week and last month. Belly fill is scored by standing behind the cow. Look if the rumen is visible on the left side. If not, the cow did not eat enough last week. To check feed intake over the last month you score the body condition by picking up some skin in between the pin bone and the tail. If it is a deep hole with only skin, she did not get enough feed last month. If there is some fat under the skin this would be perfect. If there is a lot of fat under the skin, she ate too much, or her diet is not balanced to production.
Are your cows coats smooth, shiny and clean?
Listen carefully for thin manure, slipping cows, coughing cows.
Use your nose: what do you smell?
Do you see fast breathing? 30 breaths per minute is normal. 60 is heat stress, pain or fever.

Check for standing and perching cows in the stalls, check for curved backs (lameness).

Always ask yourself and all your advisors the WHY question.
Read more about this in our Cow Signals book. Better still get in touch with me and we can organize a Cow Signals workshop on your farm.

Q & A from 'Ironing Out Problems in Nova Scotia'

2011-10-04T11:20:00.000-03:00

AgraPoint recently had a question stem from one of Dan's blog posts and so we figured that if one was wondering..........there may be others as well. So in extending the outreach of such valuable information, check out the Q & A for yourself!

Question:

Great blog! Is excess iron a problem for beef cattle, sheep, goats, etc. as well? Dan talks about how to deal with excess iron, but how do you determine that excess iron is actually what's causing those symptoms in your livestock?

Answer:

Excess iron is certainly a problem for beef cattle, sheep and goats, however to a lesser extent since they are typically not under the same stresses as higher production dairy cattle.

How do we know excess iron is causing those ...symptoms? It cannot be determined that excess iron alone could be the cause of a problem such as poor reproductive performance because there are many other contributing factors to consider. However, through research, we know it is a problem. Among other antagonists to copper, iron limits copper absorption into the animal's bloodstream. This can be seen in cattle with a ginger 'tinge' along the backs of darker haired animals and as swayback in sheep. A simple blood test can also determine the effect of minerals and trace elements in the feed.

Overcoming an excess of iron is relatively simple and inexpensive through the addition / increase of antioxidants in the diet, but you need to sample forage and water to see what the challenges are first.

Challenges of the 2011 Forages

2011-09-21T21:27:00.000-03:00

2011 is proving to be a challenge with grass and alfalfa silages. Low protein and high fibre has dominated most crop analyses, although not entirely as some legume cuts made in May and the first few days of June have turned out well.
Relative Feed Value (RFV), shown on most forage reports, is designed to give you one number by which you can make comparisons between forages. It is based on the ADF and NDF fibre levels alone. To give an idea on what the numbers mean, an RFV of 100 would be average, whereas 150 would be excellent. At the other end of the scale, an RFV of 80 is very poor and, unfortunately I am seeing too many forages close to that this year.

What can you do?

Addressing the shortfall in protein will add approximately ₵40 per 30 litre cow per day through the use of additional protein supplements, whereas the current price of corn will add considerably more to make up for the reduced energy intake. Producers could consider feeding wheat alongside barley and corn, if possible, to keep total feed price reasonably sensible. Amounts will depend on other factors such as NDF digestability (NDFd), ash and sugars.
I am about to start an on-farm feed trial using a molasses blend in order to see how the additional sugars can affect forage intake. Molasses is a significant cost and so the response has to be significant too! I'll keep you posted.

In the near future, I believe producers need to consider either growing their own corn for high moisture or as dry corn, or alternatively making an agreement with a neighbour to do just that. Given that 40% of corn grown in the U.S. is used for the production of ethanol and demand for the U.S. to export more is increasing, it is unlikely the corn price will drop to where it has been in recent years.

With regard to corn silage, that initially looked like a poor crop to follow in the footsteps of the grass, things have improved greatly with the recent good weather. It is early to tell just yet, but hopefully this crop will go a long wy to improving forage energy intake and subsequently more cost effective milk production!

Ironing out Problems in Nova Scotia

2011-09-10T14:54:00.001-03:00

Some herds suffer with silent heats or weak heats, uterine infections, sore feet and rough coats. The diagnosis can often be trace mineral related.

Most parts of the province have the problem of delivering excess iron to the cow through the forage and, potentially, the water supply.

Why is this a problem? Iron is a powerful oxidant that can adversely affect cell function and lead to the problems listed above.

Reducing iron in the water supply is not easy. If the iron is in the form of suspended particles then in-line filters may be a solution but can be expensive to buy and maintain. This only deals with the water supply for housed cattle and only if the iron is contained in insoluble particles.

The main opportunity in helping to resolve these problems is by carefully looking at the diet and making a few simple adjustments to reduce the influence of iron. Most ingested iron is coming from the grass silage and soil contamination can have a part to play. However, what is less well known is the degree of incidental iron from the other feeds in the ration. Feeds such as soybean meal and canola have relatively high iron levels, but we certainly cannot stop using these dietary staples.

If we cannot change the water and the main feeds in the diet what can we do?

To balance high levels of oxidants we need to examine the ratio between the oxidants from the feed and water and the level of anti-oxidants we add to the diet.

First, check that the dairy minerals do not contain any added iron.

Reduction of iron inputs is one side of the issue; the other is the provision of anti-oxidant components in the mineral. These include vitamin E, selenium, copper and zinc. Although vitamin E and selenium are the most well known of the anti-oxidants used in farm minerals it is also important to ensure that sources of available copper and zinc are provided at the right level since the increased tissue oxidation caused by excess iron can increase the requirement for copper and zinc. The presence of high levels of iron in the diet will interact with zinc and copper reducing their ability to form anti-oxidant enzymes by the cow.

Feel free to discuss this to help with providing the right advice for the situation on your farm.

Heat Stress in the Maritimes

2011-05-27T10:36:00.001-03:00

Even though we are in the month of May, cows are beginning to suffer heat stress. It isn't something we generally associate with the Maritimes; however cows begin to go through heat stress at as little as 23°C. At this point milk production can begin to decline by around 1 litre per day, and at 27°C milk yield can fall by as much as 3 litres per day (see the graphic from Diamond V).

What can you do? Firstly, and most importantly, provide access to enough clean, cold water through the summer. One open trough (with 5’ of drinking space) per 20 cows is ideal. At pasture, cows should not have to walk more than 500 feet to get water.

Ventilation in the barn is very important at all times of the year. Click here to see an interesting document by Harold K. House, OMAF's dairy and beef structures and equipment engineer, comparing the more common ‘basket’ low volume high speed fans to the high volume low speed ceiling fans.

In combination with fans, open sided walls and chimneys do a lot for good air movement in the barn. Too often curtains in the walls are not deep enough, meaning the stale, humid air remains around the cow’s muzzle as she lies in the stall – and she should be resting in the stall for 14 hours - a long time without fresh air!

There aren’t any in this province, but misters are a very effective method to cool cows. Given that there are more than 90 days each year >20°C in Nova Scotia, there is a good case for misters in this province. They are best positioned in the feed alleys where cows spend between 6 – 8 hours each day. Misters should not be placed in collecting yards where the water can run down and drip from teat ends increasing the risk of higher somatic cell counts.

The Connection Between Milk and Water

2011-04-26T13:32:00.001-03:00

The more water your cows drink, the more they will milk...
You can achieve maximum water intake with good quality clean water and easy access to drinkers. Over 85% of milk is water. Water, light and air are the cheapest feed!

I am a Certified CowSignals® trainer and found this information on water and cow behaviour, in relationship to milk production, to be very interesting.

In a survey conducted by by CowSignals® colleagues, it was found that half of dairy farms have very poor quality water. This is because of irregular cleaning or because of bad systems where low connecting pipelines get full of dirt, etc. In poor cases, farms were found to have high levels of bacteria, high iron, manganese, etc. The solution is very simple: clean troughs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as a routine. Also use a brush to clean it properly, because the slimy rims are growing bacteria. This is how the better farms assure water intake. Again, this cleaning time is paid back in milk production!

CowSignals: do they drink enough water?
Look at the coats of the cow. Shiny, smooth coats are a sign of good water intake. ‘Elastic’ skin is a good sign: lift up a piece of skin from the side of a cow’s neck and it should pop back in place within half a second. If the wrinkle stays there after releasing it is a sign of dehydration. What are the eyes telling you? Lively and round big eyes are good signs.

On some farms I have found heifers and cows with very stiff manure. This was on farms with only one big drinker for too many animals. One “big mama” is ruling the place and she likes to spend hours in front of the drinker to show everybody that she is the boss and then cows do not get enough chance to drink. The best half will still be ok, but the weakest 50% are suffering. We advise one open trough drinker (with 5’ of drinking space) per 20 cows.

How do cows behave at the drinker? Are they scared?
Scared of other cows or stray voltage? Are they looking around before drinking? Are they sniffing and not drinking? Are they passing the first drinker and walking to the next one? Are they sticking the tongue in first, to check the water temperature? Do you hear them making sucking noises, meaning there is not enough water pressure or the drinker is too small. Can the cows reach the water or is the rim too high? We advise to have wide passages and put the drinkers 60cm (24”) high only. Many are placed over 3’ tall and cows can find it difficult to drink – especially heifers. It is just like you or I drinking while we push one finger in our throat. It is not a good feeling and makes the cows drink less.

How many litres of water do they need?
Cows like to drink 10-15 times a day for half a minute - around 10 litres each time. In hot weather a high yielding cow can drink 200 litres per day. The normal drinking speed of a cow is about 20 litres per minute. The more drinkers you put in, the better chance that your heifers will drink enough water. Cows like to have a water depth of at least 7 cm. They have to dip their mouth in without sucking air at the sides of their lips. Then if you talk about “fast drinkers”, you need a water flow of 20 litres per minute to serve the cow. Many commercially available drinkers are useless because engineers don’t know much about cows and farmers.

Check the details and test it with a big bucket: do the drinkers supply 20 litres per minute? Are they easy to clean? Do they have nice round edges, so there are no risks of wounding the cow? Are they wide enough so a cow can stand straight and drink comfortably?

Tip tanks, open drinkers with quick plugs
They are all good systems but they all need attention. Tip tanks need to be tipped. Is this happening often enough? Shallow tanks with a slope and an easy plug are excellent because you can clean every corner with a brush easily. Fast drinkers need high pressure and volume. The cows will drink most of the food particles stuck to their nose and washed off in the water themselves during the same drink, so they stay cleaner.

Drinkers in the milk parlour?
It is better to make excellent water supply in the barn than in the parlour where they can only use it twice a day for 15 minutes. If you have a very bad water supply in your barn, parlour drinkers can be a cheap way to improve water intake.

Water temperature
Don’t worry about the temperature. As long as it stays above zero. First: make sure you have clean water. Second: make sure you have enough drinkers. Thirdly: check the pressure so they are always full. Then, if you have these 3 major things assured, you can start to worry about the ideal temperature - around 17°C (63 °F). Cows drink more in winter time when you supply warm water.

Water from the milk cooler can be used for the cows and a lot of people already do this. Just beware: if you don’t clean the drinkers cows will drink less in the summer because of rapid bacterial growth. So, warm water in winter is ok, in summer it is risky. For cooling the cow in heat stress we prefer cold water.

Manure in the drinkers
If you place a drinker in a narrow collecting area: shit happens. The position of the drinkers is critical. If you have narrow passages I prefer the fast drinkers in every passage. Cows always like to drink when they come and go from the feeding alley. So a passage without a drinker is not a good idea.

Water immediately after calving
After calving I suggest unlimited lukewarm water to get the cow back in shape and get her eating as soon as possible. Some cows will drink 100 litres in the first hour post calving. There are advantages to adding glucose, propylene glycol and electrolytes to stimulate water and feed intake. Calf milk replacer can be mixed in warm water and fed to fresh cows as a means to achieving this as well as providing calcium at a critical time.

Water at pasture
Cows shouldn’t have to walk further than 500 feet to water at pasture. Ideally this should not be from a stream or pond as this can pose both animal and environmental problems.

If you need any assistance, or would benefit from some CowSignals training, please feel free to contact me at anytime.