Southwest Dairy Day set for Oct. 9 in Dublin

Event is free, but preregistration is required

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Southwest Dairy Day will be held Oct. 9 at Double N Cowboy Church, 7202 E. State Highway 6, Dublin.

Southwest Dairy Day is the largest dairy field day in Texas, offering producers the chance to see new technology in action, learn from experts and network with fellow industry members.

AgriLife Extension dairy specialists Jennifer Spencer, Ph.D., assistant professor, Stephenville, and Juan Piñeiro, DVM, Ph.D., associate professor, Amarillo, both in the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science, are cohosts for the event.

The event will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free to all, including dairy producers, allied industry representatives and community members. Due to the requirement for paperwork and the need to transport all attendees by bus from the venue to the host dairy, advance registration for the dairy tour is necessary.

“Our host dairy for the tour is Pepper Grass-Fed Organic Dairy and Heifer Farm, where attendees will learn firsthand about cutting-edge dairy technologies and management practices,” Spencer said.

Tour plans

Buses will start departing from Double N Cowboy Church at 9 a.m.

At the dairy, invited speakers include:

• A representative from DeLaval: How its VMS V300 milking robots at Rancho Pepper Dairy are used in a batch milking system to milk 2,000 cows while maintaining consistent labor efficiency, cow management and herd welfare. The company will highlight its services, including robot upkeep, data-driven management decisions and manure handling through a flush system.

During the bus ride to and from the dairy, two short videos will be shown featuring:

• Zong Liu, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension manure management specialist and assistant professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Bryan-College Station: Manure management strategies for today’s dairy operations.

• Bob Whitney, Regents Fellow and AgriLife Extension organic program specialist, Department of Agricultural Economics, Stephenville: Current forage research and innovations.

At the Double N Cowboy Church, breakout classroom sessions will feature:

• Francisco Rodrigues, Ph.D., co-founder and director of operations at ProTerra: Beef embryo transfer and reproductive management at Pepper Grass-fed Organic Dairy, as well as the processes, benefits observed and impacts on efficiency.

• Sushil Paudyal, Ph.D., assistant professor of dairy science, Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station: Biosecurity practices and resources for being prepared for a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, HPAI, outbreak and some of the aftereffects of HPAI on dairy cattle efficiency.

• Liu: New research and innovations for manure management.

• Jacquelyn Prestegaard, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension statewide livestock sustainability specialist and assistant professor, Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station: Principles of hydroponic foddering discussion and live demonstration about growing and feeding forage without soil in a continuous, semi-controlled environment.

For updates, visit https://texasdairymatters.tamu.edu. For more information, contact Spencer at jennifer.spencer@ag.tamu.edu or Piñeiro at juan.pineiro@ag.tamu.edu.