Did you like this episode? Send us a text message and share your thoughts!

In this episode of Cow-Side Conversations, Jennifer Metzler of Pleasant View Farms in Blair County, Pennsylvania opens up about an unexpected parlor fire and describes the aftermath – and recovery – for their 3,700-cow herd. Jennifer describes the on-the-spot decisions her family had to make and how humbled they were by the way their community showed up to support them. A total of 13 farms across Blair, Bedford and Huntingdon Counties took their cows in, and thanks to their community, they had all of their cows moved out to these different farms by 10:30am that morning, only a couple hours after the fire started. Jennifer also reflects on new opportunities that came from the fire, steps they’ve taken to prevent this type of emergency from happening again, and how a satellite dairy that’s four miles away from their home farm helped speed up the recovery process.

Did you like this episode? Send us a text message and share your thoughts!

In this episode of Cow-Side Conversations, Zach Kreger of Kreger Farms in Tioga County, Pennsylvania describes how he and his wife, Heidi, have made slow and steady progress over the last 11 years on his family’s 75-cow dairy farm. From simple improvements like implementing a TMR mixer and tunnel ventilation to steady progress with transition planning and herd health, the Kregers have almost doubled production in a short amount of time. Zach focuses on finding bottlenecks that are holding the cows back and making everyday improvements to set the herd up for success. As a small dairy operation with no other outside income, Zach also shares ways they hold themselves accountable and inventive ideas they’ve found to achieve labor savings – such as installing a robotic feed pusher in their tie-stall barn.

Did you like this episode? Send us a text message and share your thoughts!

In this episode of Cow-Side Conversations, Greg Hemsarth of Hemsarth Dairy in Columbia County, Pennsylvania talks through his family’s decision to invest in robotic milking technology in 2018. He shares how that investment shifted his approach to employee management, affected his timeline for transition planning, impacted both herd health and labor costs, and allowed him to diversify and start a distillery. Greg describes some of the unique challenges – and unique solutions – that robot herds face during summer heat waves, his focus on training and retaining employees, and how he and his father have worked to smooth the road of transitioning the business over the last few years.