New Automatic Milking Systems User Group for Wisconsin Dairy Producers

Mar 21, 2024

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension created the Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) user group for dairy producers currently using AMS. The user group provides participants with opportunities to collaborate with peers, access expert guidance, contribute to research efforts, and improve farming practices, ultimately enhancing efficiency, productivity, and profitability on their dairy farms.

The group is facilitated by Douglas Reinemann from the University of Wisconsin Milking Research and Instruction Lab, and Carolina Pinzón, University of Wisconsin Extension Statewide Dairy Outreach specialist.

The AMS User Group inaugural meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th, 2024, from 1 to 3:30 pm, offering both in-person (Wausau, WI) and virtual attendance options. Meetings will occur three times a year, with 10 to 20 AMS farms per meeting, held at various locations across Wisconsin, featuring optional AMS farm tours.

Source : wisc.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.