Which features are important to increase milk production (cows)?

Question

I believe that a milk productor must be really careful about any detail in his work as lots of them can increase milk production and quality. Please, specify your source, and if you are a productor, tell me your company's name.

10 pts, OK?

Answer 1

Once again, Mike has pretty much  nailed it.  You certainly must have genetics.  Very basically, a "milk" cow will produce more and better quality milk than a "beef" cow.  Even within the milk cow breeds, some are better producers than others.  

Feed in = milk out.  The quality of milk will match the quality of feed provided.

And as Mike put it so well, comfort is of great importance.  We only had about 100 head of cattle, but we found out rather quickly that content cows are better producers.  We bred beef cattle, but quality and quantity of milk produced was still important, as the results we saw would be in the quality of calf fed out.  

One factor left out of utmost importance is water.  I studied water as the "forgotten" nutrient in college and found that animals will eat in proportion to water consumed.  Cut out the water availability or provide water of poor quality and grain consumption decreased.  Without food milk can't be produced.  Cows that have to fight over water (or food) produce less milk, and on the opposite end, cows that can rest comfortably near their food and water source produce more milk.

L & C Angus, Inc. is our farm's name.

Answer 2

Milk fat content is the "gold standard" of the dairy industry. Any and all methods used to increase milk and it's fat content are always weighed, the balance being cost vs. production (qualitative and quantitative). Diet is paramount with the facility and care of the animals right up there at the top of the list. I thought the articles listed below that I found a few days ago in the news, says it all. It seems odd that our milk cows be given a waterbed and flat screen television but it shows that the "creature comforts" we take for granted are really creature comforts for the "creature". The ends to the means is a greater level of production! I found, during my studies and research at the university years back that some basic and simple technology (then, and an industry standard now) that of using the grains one would feed their milk cows and setting up hydroponic units to provide a great quality green feed year round, gave huge increases in milk fat content for the same or less input by the farmer. Taken a step further I found how to do that in an organic fashion that was taking into account a specialized niche market, organicly produced dairy products! It shows just how important it is for good production to have happy animals both in food and in day to day comfort. It also points out in a round about way that from just the standpoint of production alone, animal cruelty is poor business sense. The flip side of the cruelty issue is that more and more people are not going to support the factory farming where animals are mistreated. You "ask" an animal to produce yet you inflict pain and poor conditions on it threw their entire life. For profit. It requires so little to give comfort for what we ask and our animals with whom we share this planet make it the wonderful place it is. For those who live by a "higher power", God gave us all the world to husband and care for, not to abuse and pillage. A farm without animals is not quite a farm, is it? People who choose, who need to purchase their foods more and more will demand that their foods come from sources that transcend quality in production alone. They will demand accountability of a higher standard.

Answer 3

1. Genetics

2. Genetics

3. Genetics

4. Nutrition

5. Animal comfort

6. Animal health

7. Milking at consistent intervals

8. Getting cows bred back on a timely basis

9. Making sound investment decisions