Mom died many years ago but I’ll never forget her saying, “If you don’t set it down in the wrong place, you never have to waste time picking it up.” Imagine the . . .
implications of that? For example, the kids would never have to be asked “clean up your room.”
I surely never thought about the time management of a dairy cow. Several years ago at a dairy symposium in Michigan, U.S.A. the subject of a lecture one morning was exactly that. Before it started most of the people in the audience were wondering, “Why didn’t I sleep in for this one?” When the dairy specialist made the statement that the most productive time in a milk cow’s life is when she is resting, lying down because that is when more blood is pumped through her udder and the more blood pumped through her udder, the more milk is produced in her udder.
When a dairy farmer can see dollar signs and milk shipped is dollars, from that point on we were all wide awake. Then we were reminded that there are only 24 hours in a day. A cow is milked two or three times per day and today’s milking machines take about eight minutes to milk a cow. The cow’s udder must be pre-dipped with a disinfectant, washed, dried and stimulated before each milking. That can take another two or three minutes. After the milking machine is removed, the cow’s teats are dipped again, this time with a post-dip which disinfects and seals the teat end from germs. This only takes a few seconds, but is very important. Once the teats are dipped the cow can lay down.
In a tie stall barn, the cow can lay down right then. In a free stall barn, the cow is released from the milking stall and walks back to her stall to rest. She may stop for a drink of water, stop and eat at the feed bunk or just go and lie down. She may even stop by the cow brush and get groomed before lying down.
Before milking in a tie stall barn, cows are gotten up and the stalls cleaned a bit and bedding fluffed up before milking. In a free stall barn, milk cows are moved from their resting barn to a large holding area from which they can make a short move to the milking stalls when one is empty. A milk cow may spend as much as an hour standing in the holding area before she gets milked. The more aggressive and most productive cows are always first to be milked and hence the first to return to drink, eat, groom or just lie down.
If the feed bunk is too small, some cows will have to spend time looking or even fighting for a place to eat. Did you ever have to wait to eat your meal while someone passed the butter, salt or pepper? The cows’ feed in the bunk must be pushed up regularly so cows don’t have to reach for their meal either. Cows must be provided with fresh, clean, water in several areas close to where they want them.
Cows need to have water, fresh well-balanced feed, be milked correctly and have a little time to socialize and groom. Just like people some cows spend more time socializing than others. When milk cows spend time standing around they are not making as much milk as when they are laying down. The dairy farmer is responsible for providing the most efficient time management for the cows as possible.
Every time the farmer goes to work, time management should be on his mind. When working a field a farmer figures out the most efficient way to work the field and with the least turns possible. Turns use more fuel, take extra time and provide more opportunity for missing a spot while turning.
When harvesting a field farmers try to change wagons or trucks, or dump grain tanks close to the road or near the gate so others will not have to waste time traveling farther to bring crops to the barn, silos or grain bins. Before a farmer is near finished a field be it tilling, haying or harvesting he is figuring out how to move himself and the rest of the crew to the next field by finishing as close as possible to the next field and not wasting time and fuel driving empty to the other end of the field and then back up the road.
Farmers never leave the yard without filling the fuel tank, greasing and oiling the machine and packing drinks and lunch and now the cell phone too. A big tool box with wrenches, grease and easy to change parts and a fire extinguisher are just commonplace on the machine, all to reduce down time.
Parts runs are usually planned for a rainy day with several part stops along the way. The last stop is planned to be the farthest one away so it can just be finished before closing time. Then after five, there is plenty of time to drive home and maybe even stop for supper before bedtime.
Most farmers that I know carry a jackknife with a screwdriver, bottle opener, sharp blade and even a corkscrew to help the ladies get into the wine.
Time management is a good habit to get into.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
