HomeMy WebLinkAboutLucknow Sentinel, 2009-03-18, Page 35Farm Progress, March 18, 2009 - Page 19
New age of dairy farming includes technology and hard work
BY BLAIR POLLOCK
Kincardine News Staff
Technology may have
made milking cows easi-
er, but the days on the
farm are still long.
Local dairy farmers
continue to put in a hard
day's work, but with
through various techno-
logical advancements the
work is.made a little eas-
ier.
Gone are the days of
taking the old wooden
stool and sitting below a
Holstein cow's udder
and hand -milking. Today
is an era of milking par-
lours, which saves the
backs and knees of the
Photo by Blair Pollodct
Wade Armstrong tests one of the teets before r>lldng.
dairy farmer.
Take for 'example
Ripley dairy farmer, Joel
Armstrong, who began
dairy farming at the age
of 21 in 2000.
It's not only back pain
that is relieved by the
new barns either.
Farmers can now milk
more cows in less time
with the new parlours.
"In the old tie -stall
barn we .were milking 40
cows in about an hour
and a half," said
Armstrong who as of
Dec: 15, 2008 now . oper-
ates. out of a parlour.
"Now with two people
milking we can milk
around 65 cows = in one
hour.,,
Waking up at 6 a.m.
everyday including
Christmas, birthdays and
most people's day of
relaxation, Sunday, for
the past nine years and
heading to the barn
where 40 Holstein
`ladies' were waiting for
him to milk.
Like Armstrong, most
dairy farmers who milk
twice daily, have a very
similar day.
They wake up early in
the morning to the
buzzing of an alarm
clock, since the reliabili-
ty of a rooster's crow
has gone out by the way-
side, and head to the
barn for milking prepa-
ration.
Continued. of page 20.
Photo by Blair Pollock
Wad Armstrong hooks up a milker to one of the many
cows that have to be milked. •