Happy Cows Make Happy Cheese

As we transition from the long, hot days of summer to the cool, breezy days of fall, our hard working ladies are looking forward to the much more favorable weather ahead. Did you know the comfort zone of dairy cattle is between 41 and 68 F°?  This means that at any temperature above this range a cow experiences what is known as “heat stress.” In Virginia, it is uncommon during the summer months that the nights cool off much below 68 F° or at all!  These hot days are very tough on cattle as they never get a break to completely cool off and relax like you and I can each night in our air conditioned homes.  This stress causes their milk production and butterfat, to decrease as they aren’t eating as much, and instead are drinking more water. Additionally, for every 1 day a cow is heat stressed, it takes 3 days to completely rebound from this stress. 

Our dairy manager Steven has done an awesome job in making sure our ladies are kept comfortable!  During the summer months, the cows go out on pasture at night when it is coolest and are kept up close to our “pack” barn during the day.  They have free access to walk under the sprinklers, giant fans with misters, or to lay under the shade of the barn.  These are all things we have implemented to reduce heat stress over the summer months in our cattle. Making sure our ladies are happy and healthy is the most important thing to us.  After all we believe that happy cows make the best milk, which in turn makes the best cheese!