DHIA test kicks off a full Tuesday

What's set to be a busy Tuesday kicked off at 3:30am in the milking barn with our monthly DHIA (dairy herd improvement association) test. During the test we use meters to measure and record each cow's level of milk production during that particular milking shift, and we also collect a small sample of each cow's milk. The weights and samples will be sent to a lab in Missouri later today, and we should know each cow's daily level of production and milk quality by the end of the week.

milk meters are used to record each cow's milk production once a month

Next up on the schedule is planting corn. I was able to get 23.5 acres-worth of seed in the ground yesterday, not quite half of the total we're shooting for in this first round of planting. I'll be planting a few small Mycogen variety test plots in one of our fields this morning, and hopefully I can get a total of 15-20 acres planted before I have to dog-off to go to Vernon to help coach my son's baseball team at 6:00 this evening. Our county's Cattlemen's Association board of directors is meeting after that, so it'll likely be tomorrow before I can finish the initial corn acreage.

While I'm doing all that, all of our animals will be fed, manure will be spread, cows will be milked again this afternoon, and I'm sure a few other farm chores will be taken care of.