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Same ol’ boring routine OK with New York dairy operator

Spring 2012

Ask Todd Hyman his secret for running a productive dairy operation and his response will likely be composed of two simple words: consistency and routine.

"We try to keep it all very simplified because bored cows are productive cows," Hyman says. "The trick to milking a lot of cows is consistency. If you're doing it well, it's borderline boring because the same thing that happened yesterday will hopefully happen today and then again tomorrow."

Hyman and wife Heather started Hylight Farms LLC in 2003 with 30 Holstein cows and grandiose dreams. In spring of 2004, Heather's parents, Jerry and Mary Stockman, joined the Hymans to expand the operation. Hylight Farms LLC is located in the far northeastern corner of upstate New York, not far from the small community of Adams. In 2008, Hylight Farms LLC grew once again; this time to a farm site located less than 10 miles from the Hyman homestead. Now a multi-faceted operation with two dairy facilities and crop production, the two husband-wife teams have expanded the original farm from the 30 original cows to nearly 1,100 today, along with 1,800 acres of cropland.

A venture of grand proportion

The 2008 expansion - appropriately named Grand Venture Dairy - has grown to more than 750 head of Holstein cows, with a few Jersey and Brown Swiss co-mingled for good measure. In addition to the milking operations, the Hymans and Stockmans also raise 1,000 acres of corn and 800 acres of an alfalfa/grass mixture, all of which is processed into what Hyman calls Total Mixed Ration (TMR): the feed that provides nourishment for the two herds of milking stock. It takes 24 full- and part-time employees and an arsenal of equipment to keep the farm running smoothly as the milking process alone is a 20-hour-per-day endeavor.

Every cow makes three trips to the milking parlor within a 24-hour timespan. Production from the combined herds yields, on average, 90,000 pounds of milk every day; that's 11,250 gallons and cumulative sales of more than $6 million in revenue annually. As impressive as the operation is and as boring as it may sound to the adventurous thrill seeker, Hyman contends that dairy cattle are most productive when their daily routine remains as mundane as possible.

"In the dairy business, the more consistent we can be, the more efficient our operation," Hyman says. "Cows are happiest when they remain on a tight schedule. And happy cows are productive cows."

In theory, striving for consistency and keeping to a routine shouldn't be all that difficult. Yet for dairy and farming operations, it isn't as easy as it sounds. Mother Nature and equipment breakdowns are among the biggest threats to interrupting the monotony, and although Hyman can't do much about the outside elements, he feels he has some control over downtime.

As one can imagine, feeding is an ongoing chore that requires lots of man hours and a great deal of mixing. It takes heavy-duty equipment to hold up to the rigors of preparing and loading the more than 90,000 pounds of TMR feed that Hyman and his hired hands prepare for the hungry, milk-producing bovines every day. Proving too much a challenge for his previous wheel loader, Hyman visited his local Doosan dealer - Monroe Tractor - in nearby Adams, in search of a replacement.

"The equipment we had before just wasn't built to handle the feeding task," Hyman says. "We needed something that was more heavy-duty. We also wanted something that could be serviced by our local dealer. So we paid a visit to our sales rep at Monroe Tractor and he showed us a used Doosan DL250 wheel loader. It was at a good price point and a model he was confident would be able to handle the continuous operation required for feeding. We run the machine on average eight to nine hours a day."

Good eats

The TMR feed is composed of several ingredients - forages, grain and nutritional supplements - all mixed together and delivered in one lump package. Hyman relies on the DL250 to create huge piles of harvested forages, then later for transferring the feedstuffs to a mixer that acts as a huge food processor to blend all ingredients together in equal fashion. The compacted silage piles present challenges for even the best built heavy-duty equipment.

"The DL250 does 90 percent of the work," Hyman says. "We use it to dig out silage from the piles and load all the TMR ingredients into the mixer. In addition to the loader bucket, we also have a defacer attachment. The defacer has a series of prongs that rotate in a circular motion that break apart the compacted silage, making it more uniform and easier to load into the mixer. Basically, it's a loosening device that works really well."

In addition to serving as the primary implement for the feeding process, the DL250 wheel loader assists in a variety of other chores, including cleaning and dispensing of bedding for the herd. Hyman uses fine sand for bovine bedding, a material with many positive attributes. Yet, because of its heavy weight, it presented problems for his previous lighter-weight equipment.

"Sand provides a lot of cushion," Hyman says. "Cows are big animals, and fine sand, like the beach, provides a lot of comfort for them. Plus, because it's gritty, it also provides a stable foundation for less slippage and fewer injuries. It's also nonorganic, which means no bacteria growth ... something that's important for helping keep cows healthy. The only drawback of using sand is weight, so it takes a heavy-duty piece of equipment to move it from pile to platform. Our Doosan wheel loader has certainly lived up to the challenge."

Minimal downtown

Equipment downtime wreaks havoc on any business. Breakdowns are costly not only from a repair standpoint, but lost time also means lost productivity, which takes a big bite out of profit. In a dairy operation, however, downtime upsets the mundane. Delays in feeding, cleaning and maintenance upset the milk production cycle, and the overall disposition effect Hyman's herd. To that point, equipment reliability has a direct affect on the operation's bottom line.

"The Doosan wheel loader has been a really good machine," Hyman says. "We bought it for the purpose of being durable and minimizing downtime. In the last two years, it's been down only one time that I can remember, and it wasn't a mechanical issue.

"I also like that you can see really well when operating it," Hyman says. "There are large windows in the front so you can see what you're doing very easily. The machine is also designed very well and is easy to service. The other thing is that it's really easy to use. The cab and control panels are user-friendly, and the joystick for running the bucket and loader are convenient and easy to operate. It's a good piece of equipment, no doubt about that."

Boring? Maybe. But for Hyman, if that's what it takes to keep his cows happy and productive, that's OK with him.

"Lots of things on dairy farms go into the total ability to produce milk," Hyman says. "The value of a durable, reliable piece of equipment certainly figures into the equation. To put a number to it would be difficult, but I know the Doosan wheel loader has definitely allowed us to be more consistent, which has helped us increase milk production since we've owned it. Anything that disrupts the routine also disrupts production."

Perhaps we can all learn a thing or two from Hyman's bovines about the value of having a bit more consistency in our lives.