My name is James Waters and I am a third year agricultural science student in Waterford Institute of Technology.
In January I travelled to America to complete six months work placement through “The Ohio Program” on the 1,300-strong Miedema dairy herd in central Ohio.
The farm is owned and run by Andy and Istke Miedema, who moved from Holland when they purchased the land in 2002 and have built the farm from the ground up since.
The cattle
All of the cattle are kept under the one roof. Calving occurs on the farm all year round but non-animals are raised on-farm.
The heifers are collected on a weekly basis and sent to various calf rearing farms, at six-months old they are sent to Kansas to be reared and return to the farm nine weeks before calving, the bull calves are sold to a local farmer who brings them to finish.
In the coming months there are plans to build a calf-rearing barn to accommodate and raise the heifer calves to six months before they go to Kansas. There are also plans for the future to add on another barn and grow the heard to 2,000 cattle.
The weather
The weather goes from one extreme to the next. When I first arrived out here the temperature was -23°C, with very heavy snow and ice. The temperature is now ranging between 5°C to 15°C, but come June the temperatures will go as high as 30°C. Two weeks ago we had a day that reached 26°C and two days later it was snowing.
The milk
The cows are milked three times a day in a 20-unit double parlour.
There is no bulk tank on the farm, the milk is cooled and fed straight into a tanker, which there are two of on the farm at all times and they are currently filling 1.5 tankers a day.
Milk prices are low at the moment, 100lbs of milk is currently worth $14.50, compared to 2014 where it reached heights of $25.70 per 100lbs.
Herdsman
One thing that is very different out here is that all dairies will have a herdsman who will tend to all the needs of the cattle. 
His role includes finding and treating sick animals, giving vaccinations and hormones for the breeding programme, hoof trimming, treating mastitis and any difficult calvings.
I work as junior herdsman on the farm where I have been trained and trusted to do all the jobs a herdsman would do.
A herdsman is needed as it is not uncommon for farms to have 2,000 cattle and large farms milking 8,000 while rearing all their heifers as well.
Herd health
I have come to realise that when you have 1,300 cattle you also have 1,300 problems. Every cow is vaccinated against IBR, BVD, salmonella, scour, E. Coli and more. Feed quality is checked on a regular basis and every morning the first job is to check the freshly calved cows for ketosis, metritis, retained placentas, displaced abomasums and their temperatures are taken, but this does still not stop them from getting sick.
Also the springers urine pH is checked weekly to make sure they are on a proper diet to leave them set up in the right shape for calving.
Since I arrived here I have treated animals for ketosis, metritis, retained placentas, pneumonia, salmonella, E. Coli, milk fever, dehydration, diarrhoea and left- and right- displaced abomasums. Treating the left-displaced abomasum involves rolling the cow on its back and tacking the abomasum onto the bottom of the stomach and right-displaced abomasum involves an operation.
Midema dairy farm Ohio, USThe herdsman will trim cows at least four or five days a week on the farm, all cows are trimmed before being dried off which we do every Friday and after that it's maintenance and lame cow trimming on a regular basis.
The barn
The barns are the most impressive things to see over here, every cow is under one roof with no reason to leave it.
The barn is 4.5ac in size which is adapted for all weather conditions as well as containing the parlour and all handling facilities.
Manure from each pen is cleaned in between milking using a flushing system which is then scraped to the end of the barn with a bobcat. This manure then goes to the pump house where the solids are removed and the waste goes to a lagoon where it is spread on the land through irrigation.
The solids that are remove, dried and then spread back onto the cubicles as beading.
The barn has to adapt with the weather for animal comfort.
When temperatures drop or it is too windy the curtains go down and when the temperature rises they go up again on the external walls, every pen is also set up with fans that will be on constantly during the summer as well as a sprinkler system to keep the cows cool and there are gaps between each shed to allow optimum air flow.
There is a sort gate that every cow walks through after milking. It is connected to the herdsman computer where all the information is stored about her - including calving dates, milk production and any treatment she has received. It also allows us to sort out cows that we need to work with instead of having to go look for them.
I can’t say I’m not looking forward to getting home and seeing cattle out on green pastures again, one thing I won’t do when I get home is complain about the weather again, but I will miss the experience of working as a junior herdsman on such a large-scale farm and envy the ease it is to expand and grow your herd over here.
I would like to take this chance to thank the Agricultural Science Association and the Irish Farmers Journal for awarding me with the bursary to undertake my work placement.
Read more
Student blog: calving over 500 cows in three weeks in Missouri
Student blog: milking 1,200 cows on a 750-acre block
My name is James Waters and I am a third year agricultural science student in Waterford Institute of Technology.
In January I travelled to America to complete six months work placement through “The Ohio Program” on the 1,300-strong Miedema dairy herd in central Ohio.
The farm is owned and run by Andy and Istke Miedema, who moved from Holland when they purchased the land in 2002 and have built the farm from the ground up since.
The cattle
All of the cattle are kept under the one roof. Calving occurs on the farm all year round but non-animals are raised on-farm.
The heifers are collected on a weekly basis and sent to various calf rearing farms, at six-months old they are sent to Kansas to be reared and return to the farm nine weeks before calving, the bull calves are sold to a local farmer who brings them to finish.
In the coming months there are plans to build a calf-rearing barn to accommodate and raise the heifer calves to six months before they go to Kansas. There are also plans for the future to add on another barn and grow the heard to 2,000 cattle.
The weather
The weather goes from one extreme to the next. When I first arrived out here the temperature was -23°C, with very heavy snow and ice. The temperature is now ranging between 5°C to 15°C, but come June the temperatures will go as high as 30°C. Two weeks ago we had a day that reached 26°C and two days later it was snowing.
The milk
The cows are milked three times a day in a 20-unit double parlour.
There is no bulk tank on the farm, the milk is cooled and fed straight into a tanker, which there are two of on the farm at all times and they are currently filling 1.5 tankers a day.
Milk prices are low at the moment, 100lbs of milk is currently worth $14.50, compared to 2014 where it reached heights of $25.70 per 100lbs.
Herdsman
One thing that is very different out here is that all dairies will have a herdsman who will tend to all the needs of the cattle.
His role includes finding and treating sick animals, giving vaccinations and hormones for the breeding programme, hoof trimming, treating mastitis and any difficult calvings.
I work as junior herdsman on the farm where I have been trained and trusted to do all the jobs a herdsman would do.
A herdsman is needed as it is not uncommon for farms to have 2,000 cattle and large farms milking 8,000 while rearing all their heifers as well.
Herd health
I have come to realise that when you have 1,300 cattle you also have 1,300 problems. Every cow is vaccinated against IBR, BVD, salmonella, scour, E. Coli and more. Feed quality is checked on a regular basis and every morning the first job is to check the freshly calved cows for ketosis, metritis, retained placentas, displaced abomasums and their temperatures are taken, but this does still not stop them from getting sick.
Also the springers urine pH is checked weekly to make sure they are on a proper diet to leave them set up in the right shape for calving.
Since I arrived here I have treated animals for ketosis, metritis, retained placentas, pneumonia, salmonella, E. Coli, milk fever, dehydration, diarrhoea and left- and right- displaced abomasums. Treating the left-displaced abomasum involves rolling the cow on its back and tacking the abomasum onto the bottom of the stomach and right-displaced abomasum involves an operation.
Midema dairy farm Ohio, USThe herdsman will trim cows at least four or five days a week on the farm, all cows are trimmed before being dried off which we do every Friday and after that it's maintenance and lame cow trimming on a regular basis.
The barn
The barns are the most impressive things to see over here, every cow is under one roof with no reason to leave it.
The barn is 4.5ac in size which is adapted for all weather conditions as well as containing the parlour and all handling facilities.
Manure from each pen is cleaned in between milking using a flushing system which is then scraped to the end of the barn with a bobcat. This manure then goes to the pump house where the solids are removed and the waste goes to a lagoon where it is spread on the land through irrigation.
The solids that are remove, dried and then spread back onto the cubicles as beading.
The barn has to adapt with the weather for animal comfort.
When temperatures drop or it is too windy the curtains go down and when the temperature rises they go up again on the external walls, every pen is also set up with fans that will be on constantly during the summer as well as a sprinkler system to keep the cows cool and there are gaps between each shed to allow optimum air flow.
There is a sort gate that every cow walks through after milking. It is connected to the herdsman computer where all the information is stored about her - including calving dates, milk production and any treatment she has received. It also allows us to sort out cows that we need to work with instead of having to go look for them.
I can’t say I’m not looking forward to getting home and seeing cattle out on green pastures again, one thing I won’t do when I get home is complain about the weather again, but I will miss the experience of working as a junior herdsman on such a large-scale farm and envy the ease it is to expand and grow your herd over here.
I would like to take this chance to thank the Agricultural Science Association and the Irish Farmers Journal for awarding me with the bursary to undertake my work placement.
Read more
Student blog: calving over 500 cows in three weeks in Missouri
Student blog: milking 1,200 cows on a 750-acre block
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