The shadow and the cooled are critical points to mitigate the effects of heat stress on dairy farms in argentina. According to the survey made by INTA in 2018, 52% of the drums argentines do NOT have half-shadow in the holding pens and 91% of the drums has NO system of cooled (showers) or fans that tend to also be put in the waiting pen.
The Dr. Israel Flamenbaum, a recognized expert in the topic of heat stress explains in his publications, that a large part of the drums argentines are located in areas with a subtropical climate and they are exposed to between 100 and 150 days of the year to conditions of heat stress for their cows. These cows, in their majority, are Holstein great productive potential but sensitive to heat. Cows in grazing systems as abound in Argentina and even to corral open and you see, during the summer are exposed to direct solar radiation, with very little access to groves, tights or unnatural shadows that the field can have.
Among some of the work of Dr. Flamenbaum we chose these two graphs where contrasts significantly the difference between having or not having systems of cooled cows in the production and reproduction of dairy farms in the north of Mexico:
Flamenbaum estimated that we could recover between 15% and 20% in production if measures are taken to reduce the impact of heat stress. The proposal that arises from his work and thinking in this time of economic crisis that we are living, it is a "conservative" but always combining a shower with cold water and forced-air by fans: armando stockings shadows moving at the rate of 6 to 8 m2/cow split between the feeders and the rest area. With respect to the cooled suggests mounting the sprinklers and fans in the waiting pen and use them prior to each milking. Proposes to use sprinklers for large flow rate and thick beads accompanied by the wind generated by 12 fans of 1.20 meters in diameter c/u (consumption 0,80 kW/hr).The estimated cost of the installation would be $ 2000 pesos/cow (52 US$/cow) and the operating cost, annualized (operated by a timer allowing periods of wet shorts, 30-40 seconds, every 5 minutes) of 500 pesos/cow/year (13 US$/cow/year).
The benefits may include a range that would go from 10% to 20% increases in milk production. It would be logical to expect a payback on the investment in average of 2 years.
For more information from Dr. Flamenbaum can be directed to your website www.cool-cows.com