The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s 2023 Southwest Dairy Day is set for Oct. 18 and will feature the Del Rio Dairy near Bovina.
The field day will highlight cutting-edge technologies, including an anaerobic digester and rotary parlor with automated teat sanitation.
The free event will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1098 State Highway 86, Bovina. Bus tours to the Del Rio Dairy will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue through noon. The Texas Beef Council, Southwest Cheese and Hi-Pro Feeds will provide the noon luncheon.
The tours will include three stops at the anaerobic digester, Saudi barns and rotary milking parlor.
“The 2023 Dairy Day will highlight the most current topics of interest in the dairy community,” said Juan Piñeiro, DVM, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension dairy specialist, Amarillo. “Automation and precision technologies may help increase efficiency and address labor scarcity issues. Anaerobic digesters decrease greenhouse gas emissions and provide dairy farmers another revenue stream in a market with increasing feed costs and low milk prices.”
Dairy innovations, information
Topics and speakers at the various stops will be:
Stop 1: Welcome and brief history. Management of Saudi barns and water use — Rocky Gingg, owner of Del Rio Dairy, Jennifer Spencer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension dairy specialist, Stephenville and Robert Hagevoort, Ph.D., New Mexico State University Extension dairy specialist, Clovis, New Mexico.
Stop 2: Automation in the rotary parlor — robotic pre- and post-dipping; activity monitors and sorting gates — Nathan Maroney, Del Rio Dairy farm manager, and Sushil Paudyal, Ph.D., assistant professor of dairy science in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.
Stop 3: Manure management and anaerobic digester system — Justin Pitsch, Del Rio Dairy anaerobic digester project manager, and Zong Liu, AgriLife Extension specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Bryan-College Station.
The event relies on allied industry support, and Piñeiro said they are grateful for the continuous support in the past. Key sponsors this year are: Genex, Nedap, Texas Beef Council, Southwest Cheese and Hi-Pro Feeds.
For more information, contact Piñeiro at juan.pineiro@ag.tamu.edu or Spencer at jennifer.spencer@ag.tamu.edu.
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