One of the suggestions on the Land-O-Lakes evaluation of the milking procedures was to stop putting any cows from Group 3 on manual. Group 3 is made up of cows just coming into the herd - young, still growing, and give about 30 lbs at the morning milking. As milkers, we have the option to hit a button above a milking unit if we don't want the unit to automatically come off. This means we plan to take the unit off manually later. There is a list of cows we do this for - they tend to let down their milk slowly or, because of their udder shape, not milk out on some quarters. The Land-O-Lakes people thought these young cows might be "learning" to not milk out properly. They argued that since the cows will be milked again in 8 hours, it's not a big deal if they don't milk out completely. I'm not so sure. If a cow's udder becomes too full they can start leaking while yet in the barn, opening them up to the threat of mastitis. Eric said not to change any procedures until he had a chance to discuss it w/ Carol. Carol is preoccupied at the moment w/ paperwork as she gets ready for their tax preparers visit today. Eric was in a good mood though. Corn prices have fallen to $4.20. Only twenty cents to go to win his bet.
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