On Monday afternoon, Aug. 4, tour two local innovative dairies – Hemdale Farms Inc., Seneca Castle, and Merrell Farms LLC, Wolcott. The drive-yourself tour, sponsored by Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY program, will explore Hemdale Farms’ new robotic barn. Then it will be introduced to Merrell Farms’ recently built eight-row cross-ventilated barn with a 72-stall rotary parlor.

At Hemdale Farms, Dale Hemminger will point out the details of the 240-stall robotic barn built in 2007. It has four Lely robotic units with quarter milking, meaning the units monitor milk production and five quality parameters on all four teats. The robotic barn has waterbeds for stall surfaces and rubber belting in the robotic unit areas, the feed alley and at the waterers.

Merrell Farms LLC., owned by Jon and Karen Merrell, features a new eight-row cross-ventilated barn. The 1,424-stall barn is 216-feet-wide at the widest section and 823-feet-long. There are 77 fans. Baffles above the head-to-head stalls assist ventilation across the barn, which also has an evaporative cooling pad.
The dairy’s holding area for the 72-stall rotary parlor houses radio frequency sort gates, a foot-trim lane and a four-row freestall for fresh heifers and treated cows. There’s also a bedded pack.

The What’s New Dairy Tour begins at 1 p.m. at Hemdale Farms Inc., 2800 Orleans Rd., Seneca Castle, on Monday, Aug. 4. The tour will be at Merrell Farms in Wolcott at 3 p.m.

Dairy Profit Seminars at Empire Farm Days
Programs are held Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 5 – 7, at the Rodman Lott & Son Farm, Seneca Falls. Seminars begin daily at 10:30 a.m. in the Dairy Seminar Center and conclude with lunch.

This year’s topics are:
• Tuesday, Aug. 5: Transition cow tune-up. Tom Overton of Cornell moderates a panel of dairy producers from Pennsylvania, Vermont and New York. Veterinarian
• Wednesday, Aug. 6: Dairy facilities: Create a healthy, productive environment for cows and people. Dave Galton of Cornell moderates this panel of producers, researchers and consultants from across the Northeast. A high topic will be deep-straw beds as an alternative for stall surfaces.
Also on Wednesday the New York Holstein Association, in partnership with Northeast DairyBusiness and Holstein World magazines, sponsor a special program on New Profit Opportunities…Registered Holsteins in Larger Dairy Operations. The program begins at noon with lunch. Speakers include Jonathan Lamb, Oakfield; Andy Merry, Arkport; and a member of Coyne Farms from Avon.
• Thursday, Aug. 7: The business of grazing. Dave Forgey, Logansport, Ind., a nationally known speaker on grazing, joins today’s panel of dairy producers and Rick Kersbergen of University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Have questions about the What’s New Dairy Tour or the Dairy Profit Seminars? Contact Heather Howland, PRO-DAIRY administrative assistant. Tel: 607-255-4478. Email: hh96@cornell.edu
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