WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Along with help from partners and sponsors, the Cornell Cooperative Extension North Country Regional Ag Team and the South Central NY Dairy & Field Crops Team are hosing the 2018 Cow Comfort Conference – “The Latest in Cow Comfort”. The 2nd annual installment of this conference will highlight the importance of maximizing cow comfort while showcasing the latest research and industry findings. The conference is open to anybody, and last year’s attendees included a variety of producers, allied industry, extension, and students.
The conference will open with Jessica Ziehm (NY Animal Agriculture Coalition) talking about animal welfare and what it means for the dairy industry, and presentations by DFA and Merck on how to prepare your farm for the worst, which will touch on animal abuse allegations and emergency preparedness. Other presentations include an update on lameness and cow comfort in tiestall dairies, maximizing cow comfort in the maternity pen (Dr. Katy Proudfoot, The Ohio State), and cow cooling and barn ventilation (Curt Gooch, Cornell University). Robotic milking herds will also be discussed with Dr. Trevor DeVries (University of Guelph) highlighting the latest data on cow comfort and lameness in robotic herds, and Jason Karszes (Cornell University) and Bruce Dehm (Dehm Associates) incorporating the economic and financial aspects of these milking systems. The conference will also feature vendors and booths to allow for networking and interaction with industry representatives and other producers.
The conference will be held February 6-7, 2018, at the Holiday Inn, 411 Electronics Parkway, Liverpool, NY, 13088. To register, please visit https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/cowcomfortconference2018-2- 2_10512, or contact Tatum Langworthy (315-788- 8450, tlm92@cornell.edu). Early registration is now open and runs until January 15, 2018, and the cost is $175. Registration after January 15, 2018, is $250. To sponsor the conference or have a booth, please contact Tatum Langworthy.
—Cornell Cooperative Extension
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