Healthy Farm Practices
The 40 meters show cow conductivity which measures the antibodies the cow is fighting off. The conductivity help shows cows with mastitis and lameness, along with heat detection. There is a computer chip attached to every cow. This transponder automatically records: the cow number when she enters the parlor. This sends a message to the computer to show how much activity she has had in the barn. Activity is recorded by the number of steps the cow makes between milking shifts. This shows us heat detection and lameness. When the cow comes into the parlor the transponder records, how much milk she produced for that milking, and how long it took her to milk.
The milk is stored in tankers. The milk is cooled by a chiller and plate cooler. Together it brings the temperature down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. All cows and replacement heifers are bred by artificial insemination. The cows are bred to A.I. with high repeatability for maximum production and above average type. Heifers are bred to sires known for calving ease using the same high criteria. Clean-up bulls are used for problem breeders. The pre and post weaned calves are housed in 150 round hutches. Bulls are sold in groups of ten to local buyers. Heifers are then transported over to SkyView Dairy's Heifer farm after they are weaned. There are six groups of heifers, two groups of starters and growers and one group of breeding and pregnant. The feed storage facilities in 1968 consisted of one stave. In the next 27 years another stave was added along with five harvesters. In 1995 four bunkers were added and are currently used to hold one years crop of corn silage and three different crops of haylage. Cows are fed a total mixed ration one time daily. The dairy owns 750 acres and rents 750 acres of land. The primary crops for SkyView Dairy are corn, and alfalfa, which are primarily raised for the dairy and heifer farms. There is 400 acres of alfalfa at eight tons per acre, 750 acres of corn silage at 25 tons per acre, 100 acres of oats as a cover crop for new alfalfa, and 250 acres high moisture corn at 180 bushels/acre. SkyView Dairy's goal is to produce a high quality dairy product at the lowest cost per hundred weight by using the latest technology available along with excellent management techniques. 
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