|
Green Meadow Farms, Inc. "Where the Latchstring is always out"
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Above left is the farm complex that we refer to as farm 2 and the
complex on the right we call farm 3. |
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
Above are pictures of farm 2. The
parlor that is open to the public is located here. it is a double 30
herringbone DeLaval parlor that was completed in February 1998. The
facility has a milking observation area, office space, and employee
lobby. Pipeline, milk meters, pulsation, etc are located in the
basement. The 170,000 pounds of milk produced daily is pumped into two
7,000 gallon tanks. Vacuum pumps, compressors, boilers, and backup
generator are located in the utility room. The boiler provides hot
water and heats the parlor floor. After milking, all the cows return
through one of two sorting gates which divert selected cows to the
handling area for breeding, etc.
There are four 465' x 98' free stall barns. Each houses up to 540 cows and feature the unique Starwood truss system. Manure is pushed by a skid loader to a 12' channel at the end of each barn. Manure is then removed from the channel by way of the sand/manure separator. We also have the option of hauling the manure out by front end loader if there are issues with the separator. To learn more about our manure system please see manure treatment.
|
||||
|
The parlor referred to as farm 3
was completed in July 2001. This facility focuses on pre-fresh and
fresh cows with the capacity to house 1,500. The parlor is a DeLaval
double 20 couture herringbone with pulsation, pipeline, meters, etc in
the basement. Attached to the facility is a 90' x 128' special needs
barn with sixteen 10' x 12' individual box stalls, office space, indoor
surgery room, two rows of headlocks, and space for a tilt table or stand
up trim chute. Also attached is the maternity barn with twenty four 10'
x12' individual box stalls, a 34' x 90' sawdust pack, office and storage
space. Fresh cows are moved to farm 2 at 40-50 DIM (days in milk) to enter the
reproductive program and then return back to farm 3 as late lactation
pregnant cows. In total we are milking around 3,000 cows.
|
||||
|
|
It is here at farm three, that the vet students from Michigan State University come to learn. Connected to the special needs barn is the Michigan State University Center for Dairy Professionals, where the students learn about being a dairy vet. They learn everything from Caesarian Section to fixing a displaced abomasums. | |||
|
||||