BEATING THE HEAT

If the cows on the Balzer Dairy Farm outside of Medford appear to be in a fog, it’s all by design in an effort to keep them comfortable in extreme heat.
When the thermometer outside soars to dangerous levels, a fine mist blankets the cows and gives the appearance of fog throughout the barn.
The mist comes out of a fogging system installed when the barn was built in 2015. The state-of-the-art system features elaborate high-pressure cooling aimed to keep the cows comfortable in toasty weather.
The barn has an insulated attic and tinted sidewall, which reduces the sun by 25%, according to Rick Balzer, who operates the dairy farm with his son, Scott. In addition, a ventilation system creates a 6 mph wind speed through the barn to cool the cows.
During the recent stretch of 90-plus degrees, the fogging system was running pretty much non-stop.
Last Thursday, when the mercury hit 98 degrees outside, the temperature inside the barn was a comfortable 87 degrees under the mist.
A computer operates the system and measures both temperature and humidity, Scott Balzer said. “We can set out temperature range and humidity range where we want it to kick in.”
Things can heat up in the barn pretty fast, especially with 115 cows roaming around. Scott said one cow puts out heat equivalent to a single hair dryer running at full speed. The average body temperature of a cow is 101 degrees.
“We want to keep it as cold as we can,” said Scott, who studied dairy science at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. “We should have a 10-degree temperature drop from what’s outside.”
Prolonged heat, Scott said, can have a negative effect on milking cows.
“It can lower productivity if it gets hot enough,” he said, adding that pregnant cows can experience lower birth rates and produce smaller calves in extreme heat.
Each cow produces about 85 pounds of milk per day on the Balzer farm, putting the annual herd production at 3.5 million pounds. The Balzers have a robotic system milking cows 24 hours a day, with some cows getting milked up to five times a day.
The milk is shipped every other day to First District Association in Litchfield.
“We don’t want them to lose milk,” Scott said. “We keep the productivity up and keep them as comfortable as possible.
One way Scott knows the cows are comfortable is when they come up to him in the barn.
“Keep them as calm and relaxed as possible is overall healthier for them,” he said.
Scott also said healthier cows will produce milk longer. A typical dairy cow will produce milk for an average of three or four lactation cycles, which last around 10 months each.
“If you have happy cows, they produce better for you,” Scott said, adding the fogging system has made a big difference in the overall health of their herd.
Balzer’s cows remain in the barn at all times. If they were allowed outside, Scott said, “They would run around for a quick lap or two and then they would be right back in here.”
The system also works well during the winter months. The temperature usually never dips below 30 degrees in the barn in winter.