Milking dairy cows on schedule-10/18/99-The Associated Press State & Local Wire
HEADLINE: Extra hour means extra milk, more discomfort for dairy cows
DATELINE: VERNON TOWNSHIP, Mich.
The change from daylight-saving to standard time makes for some sour moods among dairy cows, dairy farmers say.
Cows normally milked at 12-hour intervals produce milk for an extra hour because of the time change. And they're never happy about it, said Richard Wright of Caledonia Township in Shiawassee County.
"They're waiting to be milked when you get there," Wright told The Flint Journal in a story Sunday. "They're uneasy. ... Some of them are bellowing."
Some farmers, such as Michael and Lois Davenport of nearby Vernon Township, said they try to accommodate their Holsteins by changing their milking schedule by 30 minutes at a time.
"A cow is a funny animal. They like to have everything the same way," Davenport said. " They like to have a schedule."
The time change can produce more than mere discomfort, said Craig Burns, Michigan State University dairy extension agent for Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawassee and Saginaw counties.
"You add an extra hour, that's an hour more for them to get mastitis and other things they get when their udders are full," Burns said.
Not all dairy farmers were worried about the impact of the switch.
"The cows just have an extra hour of milk in them in the morning, or an hour less," said Dale Hackney of Vernon Township. "Sometimes I'm an hour late anyway."
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