450 COWS IN COMPOST BARN AND DRY LOT IN ARGENTINA

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In this video, we visit the EL MONCHO dairy farm in CÓRDOBA and show what the reality of a dairy farm in ARGENTINA 🇦🇷 is like. Together with Agronomist Diego Bertea, we will demonstrate how they produce milk.
The main idea of the farm is to have various production systems, and the system they chose to use is one that is becoming more common in dairy farms in Argentina. Most are transitioning from more traditional systems to a more intensive milk production system. At the EL MONCHO farm, they have a production system where part of the animals are in the Dry Lot system and part of the animals are in a COMPOST BARN type barn.
Prepartum dairy cows are managed with a controlled energy diet, where the diet contains approximately 30% wheat straw, corn silage, and soybean hulls. The diet also includes a concentrate that contributes to both the protein and anionic parts.
How many dairy cows are there on the EL MONCHO farm?
The EL MONCHO dairy farm typically has between 430 and 450 lactating cows throughout the year.
At the EL MONCHO dairy farm, they have a compost barn divided into TWO sections, with one side housing the primiparous cows and the other side housing the multiparous cows.
Do all the cows on the dairy farm have the same diet?
No. Depending on the time of year, the diets change to optimize milk production.
What are the most important phases in dairy farming?
Here Diego explains better how they manage the cows depending on the phase the animal is in. Since the farm doesn't have a very large barn, it faces some difficulties in managing prepartum and postpartum cows.
How many times a day are the cows fed?
The distribution of food for the dairy cows is done TWICE a day, but during hotter periods, the food distribution is done THREE times a day.
What is the heat stress situation for cows in ARGENTINA?
In 2022 and also in 2021, it was a hotter year on the farm with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, and normally the climate in Argentina is a bit drier than the climate in BRAZIL.
How is feeding managed on the EL MONCHO farm?
Feeding is mainly managed with corn silage, alfalfa silage, and forage, always striving to achieve the best possible quality within the reality of milk producers in Argentina.
How to deal with the increase in input prices for feeding dairy cows?
Due to some economic problems that Argentina has faced, the prices of inputs have increased considerably, so it is necessary to adapt to cope with the high costs and maintain quality in milk production. It is not easy to deal with this issue.
How is the bedding managed?
The bedding is managed with peanut shells, usually using around 4.5 kg or 4.7 kg of peanut shells per day for each animal.
What are peanut shells?
Peanut shells are a byproduct of peanut grain processing. During the harvest, the grain is removed and the byproduct that remains is the shell, which is used as a substrate in the bedding of dairy cows.
Why use Compost Barn bedding with PEANUT SHELLS?
They use peanut shells as a substrate, adding them once a year, and as the compost ferments, more peanut shells are added to control the moisture of the bedding. This helps to avoid problems with mud and stress in the cows when the bedding is too wet, which can lead to health problems like mastitis. Dairy cows do not rest properly under these conditions, resulting in a decrease in milk production.
How many liters of milk do cows produce in the Compost Barns?
At the EL MONCHO farm, the average is between 38 and 40 liters of milk per animal.
How often is the BED managed?
The bed is usually managed twice a day, taking advantage of the milking time to carry out the work. First, a subsoiler is used to aerate the bed and then a rotary hoe is passed over the cow's bed.
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