Cow comfort, employee care top of mind

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“The success of the farm is because of the employees,” says Dan Smits, owner of Double S Dairy with his brother Steve Smits. The Monday-morning-meeting team gathers each week to share updates and plan strategies with their nutritionist and veterinarian teams. From left are Wade Weber and Monty Belmer with Waupun Veterinary Service, Ridge Grams, Steve Smits, Moy Andrade, Dan Smits, Butch Guenther, Dave Smits, Kyle TerBeest, Bob Hagenow with Vita Plus, Drew Buiter and Mike Posthuma.

Shelly O'Leary/For Agri-View

Calves born at Double S Dairy are housed in individual pens within calf barns until weaning.

Shelly O'Leary/For Agri-View

A cross-ventilation barn constructed in early 2016 gives cows ample space at Double S Dairy to eat and rest, with access to comfortable stalls, good air flow and fresh air year-round.

Shelly O'Leary/For Agri-View

Cow comfort isn’t driven by quality air and lighting alone. To encourage more lying time and to optimize resources already on-hand, stalls are deep-bedded with Double S Dairy's dried manure solids.

Shelly O'Leary/For Agri-View

The Double S Dairy team uses curtain baffles so air flow can be adjusted based on in-barn temperature. At 60 degrees Fahrenheit, all 58 variable-speed fans – each 60 inches – are programmed to provide adequate airflow at maximum efficiency.

Shelly O'Leary/For Agri-View

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Shelly O’Leary Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin For Agri-View

MARKESAN, Wis. – Dan and Steve Smits have made the news before for innovations they’ve implemented in their dairy. But they say truth be told they’d just as soon someone else be in the spotlight.

Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin is the nation’s largest dairy-producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences to help dairy producers succeed. Visit www.pdpw.org for more information.