Link to Rohrer Dairy Productions RU-vid channel: / @rohrerdairyproduction... Merch: 10thgeneration... Merch for anyone outside the United States and youth sizes: www.bonfire.co... Thank You!
The big herds in NZ have rotary sheds anything up to 80 bales. The rotary shed was developed in NZ. Most of the add ons used in these sheds were designed and developed in NZ. We have open yards here as the climate is more even and the bulk of herds are seasonal meaning the whole herd is dried off May and calving mid July/ August. Herds are mostly paddock grazed although there has been a swing to herd homes (covered) and feed pads ( uncovered). Calves are generally raised in batches and spend a relatively short time in sheds before going in to a paddock situation before weaning. A reasonable number of young stock go to grazers until just before calving. These females are usually mated by bulls run with them for a couple of months. Milking cows are mated with AI and run with bull to finish off mating.
I am a loyal viewer of the Rohrer channel. Would have been nice if you could have had an interview with Ashlyn. They have also left alfalfa production for the greater volume of double cropping. As a dairyman who worked hard to grow alfalfa as the cheapest protein forage it's difficult to think of milking cows without it.
Excellent video Eric! Appreciate the tour. Nice to see the 5th cut completed. Fortunate to get the burnt stuff behind you without any major problems. Very interesting to hear your thoughts on genetics/breeding. Glad you're getting some good prices for the calves. Thanks for the video!
Keep your head and hooves inside at all times! As soon as you showed that farm I recognized it as Rohrer Dairy Productions. Ashlyn has a great personality which really makes his channel fun to watch.
Rohrer has grown into quite an operation - didn't they have the Claas harvester on display? Also, thanks for the discussion on the cross bred holstein / montbeliarde cows, one cow is a little quick to prove it is typical of the cow. Keep your eye out for other cross bred cows and their production. Good luck!
I’ve watched a couple of Companies using this and it seems to be very useful and sufficient. A very nice setup but I don’t think the price of all that was mentioned. The place y’all were visiting looks like a great change. But I’m an old mawmaw and I find changes these days just makes me feel like sometimes old school is better. I suppose it all comes down to how helpful that can be especially with changing would small farmers benefit from an expensive change over from what y’all have and their way of that whole process. Thank y’all for sharing all the things and I PRAY GODS BLESSINGS FOR ALL OF Y’ALL 👍👍🙏🙏🇺🇸
Back in the 1960's when I grew up. most dairy farmers had Holstien cows with a few Gurnsey or Jersey cows to increase the milk fat content. That seems to have gone away these days. Also I wish you would consider allowing us to see the milk truck pickup process. You know the transfer of the milk from your holding tank to milk hauler. Thankyou.
You make some great videos, with with top-notch explanations on how you farm. If you don't mind me asking, what did you replace your alfalfa with for feeding your milking herd? I'm always looking for ways to improve the farm. Maybe you already covered that in a previous video though. Thanks and keep up the good work 👍.
Great video again. Wonder how the total costs/cow work out on that dairy compared to yours. Lots of other things to consider too. Another issue is the labor part..and availability..and just how many things you would want to manage if you were to engage in a change like that. I personally like the size that you are, but everyone's different. In switching off alfalfa, another item that you've probably already considered is dry years. You've undoubtedly got a plan. You & your dad keep up the good work!
Very interesting with the rotary milking parlor, I had seen those before with other videos, quite the technology. Changing from the alfalfa to other crops is going to be different for you, but if your like me I like change, makes things interesting. Enjoyed watching, I hope you have a good week!
I know the difference. You're is you are and your is a person's possession. You may be a person that is only wanting to help, but it can be otherwise. Either way you're (did I get it right?) the second one to do this. By the way I also sometimes forget to put an "r" at the end of your, when I am in a hurry.
Eric did you ever do a biography on you? When did you start helping on the farm and why you love it. The American dairy farmer is one of the top 5 toughest jobs in the country.
Great video! I was following RDP before I found your channel. I love them both. Everyone does the same job, but in different ways. And nobody does it wrong. What works best is the best way to work. 👍👍Stick with the Holsteins, they are milk trucks on legs!
What a fabulous farm. The most srupulosly clean I've ever seen. And... the 🐄🐄 look like they've just stepped out the shower! Here in the UK I watch the Hoof Trimmers. 🙈 Some of the Dairy Farms here, are absolutely filthy! 😢
We had a Rotary milking dairy down here East of Atlanta. I was looking them up to see how many slots it had only to see they ripped all that out after 13 yrs and now are using robots.
11:23 what is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th cutting? I'm new here, but I play a buttload of Farming Simulator 22 and that's what's driving me to love farming so much. Been thinking about driving out to a farm and seeking a job. Awesome videos tho man, keep them coming!
Great video Eric, didn't know SmartASH! and ToeKnee! were so close. Glad to see you got the hay fire conundrum cleared up. Thanks for the video and take care.
Hello Eric. Haven’t seen hardly any of your videos ? I like watching your videos their is some great footage’s that our interesting. Holstein cattle for big dairy farmer’s milker’s the best. Unless your all Jersey cattle.
For us nondairymen, when/how do you decide to replace your milking herd? Do you try out all of your new heifers once? more than once? then compare with current milkers to see which to keep?
They test all the cows in their active milk herd every month. Piet van Bedaf has a vide explaining why many dairy farms would sell a cow from their herd in vlog 93. A Dairy on the Prairie also has a video: "Why We Cull Cows"
when harvesting. why is the crop planted with so many curves? and are the rows programmed by GPS? It seems difficult to maximize the space for planting. truck driver from minnesota.
Eric, I’d like to ask you and your partner (pop) about future plans, if you wouldn’t mind. Do you have aspirations of expanding your herd as you continue to expand your barns and everything needed to grow? Most of your viewers have a minimal understanding of what it truly takes to run a dairy farm, and to actually grow the business means more of everything including local land for farming, more water and power for operations, more people to help, and the list is long (I’m just an engineer, so I can only guess what you are up against). It just seems that you have a better opportunity to grow with your RU-vid in one helping to pay the bills. All my best, and God bless your family. Engineer Mike.
Havent tried montbelarde, nothing beats the black or red Holstein. Like our lineback and normande crossbreds though only got 10 total but a fresh lineback heifer of ours is milking 90 in the robots
I'd be interested to hear about how your fertility management strategy changes as you move away from alfalfa. Personally, it's hard to believe how many have moved away from it entirely. As a crop, it has a lot of benefits and certainly high protein production per acre, but with cheaper sources of protein readily available to supplement a corn and grass based diet, I can see the appeal. I would be interested to know how much the benefits to the soil through nitrogen fixation and deep, perennial root systems played a part in making this decision, or if Milk/Cow is the main metric for this kind of decision.
