A California utility decided to spend almost $50,000 to aid research in developing a more efficient way to cool off cows during a heat wave.
The most common method today utilizes fans that can cost a dairy farm with 1,100 cows an average of over $7000! A system developed by researchers in Arizona forces well water through pipes running underneath the cows’ stalls cooling the heat above to temps that cows are comfortable with. High heat causes low milk production and even cow deaths. During a one 3-day period of 110-plus degree temps in 2006, 3400 cows died in one county alone!
I am just wondering why this type of system wasn’t developed sooner. It’s not like we haven’t had an energy crisis before. I am sure there are farms utilizing innovative energy saving systems that haven’t caught on with the typical farmer. These days, with increasing heat, it is necessary to develop efficient systems. After all, decreased energy use not only saves money, but reduces emissions, which most scientists believe contribute to global climate change.
Here’s the article that appeared in today’s Spokesman Review:
MODESTO, Calif. – Tinkerers in the dairy industry are looking at a new way of keeping cows comfy on warm summer days.
Their research, aided by $48,893 from Turlock Irrigation District, a California utility, aims to replace the power-sucking fans in use today with a system that relies on circulation of cool water from underground.
“It’s a pretty simple concept, and if it works, it would be a big benefit in keeping cows cool in summer,” dairy farmer and utility board member Joe Alamo said Thursday.
The board voted last week to help pay for research at a dairy farm near Tulare, Calif., over the next month and a half. The money comes from a state-mandated fund for energy efficiency and other “public benefit” efforts, said Nancy Folly, consumer programs division manager for Turlock Irrigation District.
The technology was developed by AgriAire Inc. of Chandler, Ariz., and tested at a University of Arizona research center.
The Tulare demonstration will try to cool 52 cows under real-life conditions. The University of California-Davis is helping with the test.
A typical system works like this: Water is pumped from an existing farm well, exiting at 61 to 73 degrees, and enters a device called a heat exchanger beneath a cow’s stall. This creates an updraft of cool air that mixes with the warm air above, ideally achieving a temperature that a cow likes.
The animals can start to feel heat stress at temperatures in the 80s with zero humidity, according to previous University of Arizona research. Thus, the cooling system could be used from spring to fall and would be especially useful in summer.
Heat can reduce milk output, and extreme heat can kill. More than 3,400 cows died in Stanislaus County during a three-day stretch of 110-degree-plus weather in 2006 – a heavy blow to one of the county’s main economic drivers.
Most dairy farms use large electric fans to keep their cows cool, aided by misters or other devices that spray water. A typical 1,100-cow farm pays an estimated $7,312 a year to power 55 fans, Folly said.
The new system would rely on the electricity already used to pump groundwater for use in water troughs, misters and milking parlor cleaning.