ITHACA, N.Y. — Comfortable cows are happy cows and happy cows produce more milk. That’s what drives Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Dairy Specialists Betsy Hicks and Lindsay Ferlito, who are teaming up on a research project studying cow comfort in tie stalls at New York State dairy farms.
Funded through the New York Farm Viability Institute, the researchers utilize electronic data loggers to track the animals’ movement and activity and cross reference that data with each cow’s milk production. Working hand-in-hand with dairy farmers, Hicks, from CCE’s South Central Dairy & Field Crops Program, and Ferlito, a member of the North Country Regional Agriculture Team, are looking to better understand ways to optimize cow comfort and maximize milk output.
This video highlights two of the dairies involved with the project and what they’ve learned from the project feedback thus far.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension
For more articles out of New York, click here.