• Topics: Dairy and Poultry Sciences  | Dairy Industry  |  Animal Sciences  |  Harris, Barney, Jr. 

The Florida Dairy Industry and Situation ¹

The dairy industry in Florida in recent years has been geared to meet the state needs for fluid milk. Florida produced milk presently provides about 85% of the fluid milk consumed in the state.

Milk production has steadily increased since 1965 as shown in Table 1. The average production per cow in Florida in 1965 was 7,810 pounds of milk. By 1991, it had increased to 13,933 pounds. During the same period, the State DHIA average increased from 9,331 pounds in 1965 to 17,443 pounds in 1991. A large number of factors are contributing to this increase including: 1) availability of genetically superior sires; 2) improved nutrition and feeding practices; 3) improved herd health; 4) milking equipment and management; 5) use of records for total management; and more recently, 6) the incorporation of heat stress management programs such as the use of shade, sprinklers and fans.

Florida continues to lag behind the national average in production per cow and presently ranks 29th in the nation (Table 2). Partially responsible for this lower level of milk production are the adverse weather conditions and stress associated with summer feeding. High humidity and temperatures cause considerable stress on Florida dairy cows from mid-May to mid-October.

In 1991, Florida had 180,000 milk cows on 330 dairies or an average of 545 cows per dairy.A number of byproduct feedstuffs are used in Florida dairies. Among the more popular ones are soybean hulls, hominy feed, wheat middlings, citrus pulp and cane molasses. Medium protein feedstuffs include distillers grains, whole cottonseed, and wet brewers grains. The major protein sources used are soybean meal, peanut meal and cottonseed meal. Cottonseed hulls are used by some dairymen as the major source of fiber in the ration. Corn silage and alfalfa hay continue to grow as major sources of forage in dairy cattle rations.Table 1 and Table 2 contain information showing the changes in cow numbers during recent years and the states with the highest number of cows and highest milk production.Herd size in Florida varies from a low of about 100 cows to about 3,000 cows with a few a little larger. In general, the dairies in South Florida tend to be larger (500 to 1000 cows) while the dairies in the remaining part of the state are smaller but variable in size. Several new and large dairies (averaging 2 to 3,000 cows) have been constructed west of Gainesville in recent years.Table 3 shows the counties where the largest number of dairies are located. As you may note, primary dairy areas appear to be in the areas of Jacksonville (Duval, Nassau and Clay Counties); Tampa (Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee and Polk Counties); Okeechobee (Okeechobee, Highlands and Hardee Counties); Mayo (Lafayette, Gilchrist and Suwannee Counties); Marianna (Jackson, Holmes and Washington Counties); Pensacola (Escambia County) and Gainesville (Alachua and Marion Counties).

FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE

Feeding and management systems used in Florida frequently differ from those observed in other areas of the country due to herd size, available feedstuffs and environmental conditions. With the concentration of more cattle on fewer farms, dairymen are encouraged to group or phase feed their cows according to production or stage of lactation. The mixer wagon is used in many Florida herds to mix and distribute feed to groups of cows. Most dairymen feed little to no feed in the parlor. A large majority of the dairies use complete feeds or total mixed rations (TMR) containing cottonseed hulls or combinations of ground hay and silage. The variation in feedstuffs used is principally due to herd size, labor situation, land availability and preference.Storage facilities for bulk feeds are available at many dairies. In general, storage tanks and/or commodity barns containing feed bins are constructed at dairies to handle either a complete feed or ingredients. Storage facilities for silage in general include upright silos for smaller dairies and bunker or trench silos for larger dairies. A few dairymen use plastic bags to store silage.Commonly used roughages in Florida are cottonseed hulls, silage (corn, sorghum and grasses) and hay (bermuda, pangola, etc.). The cottonseed hulls are mixed with the concentrate feedstuffs to form a semicomplete feed since some hay is usually available. Feedstuffs used primarily as energy sources include corn, citrus pulp, wheat midds, molasses, soybean hulls and hominy feed. Medium protein feedstuffs presently popular in Florida are whole cottonseed, distillers grains and wet brewers. Some dairymen purchase all ingredients to formulate their rations while others purchase commercial feed mixtures or pre-mixes. A number of the larger dairies in Florida use wet brewers grains. Also, more and more dairymen purchase alfalfa hay to use in their high herd rations. Rate of feeding varies from 5 to 10 pounds per cow. Some dairymen use alfalfa cubes.The feed handling equipment that appears to offer the most control in feeding cows in large herds is the mixer wagon with scales. Dairymen like the system since measured amounts of feed can be delivered to dairy cows so that the manager can keep a running account on the amount of feed being consumed. Mixer wagons have become more popular in recent years with outside feeding. Computer feeders are less popular but are used at a few dairies.

RAISING DAIRY CALVES

Raising dairy replacements is practiced by about half of the dairymen in Florida while some prefer to purchase all or part of their replacements. Many producers raise their own replacements in hopes of having better quality animals at a reduced cost. Florida imports about 45% of the 65,000 replacements they need annually.A variety of individual portable pens with half shelter are used extensively in Florida for raising calves. Permanent shelters are also used by a number of dairymen. Newer shelters frequently contain slatted or expanded metal floors. Shelters with flush systems are used by some dairymen.After weaning, calves are kept in lots of about 10 to 15 animals according to size until about six months of age. They are usually wormed at 3 to 4 months of age and again every 3 to 8 months until calving.Florida studies show that costs of raising replacements to 3 months is about $300 and to 24 months varies from about $850 to about $1,200 per head. Raising replacements requires excellent management to be successful.

DAIRY FACILITIES AND HEAT STRESS PROGRAMS

Economic losses in dairy cattle due to unfavorable environmental conditions are high during the summer months. Because of this stress, shade and heat stress management systems that include sprinkling and fans, are being used by many dairymen to improve milk production and reproductive efficiency. A few dairies are using cooling ponds.University of Florida research in recent years has targeted new approaches to reduce heat stress under hot and humid conditions. Early research demonstrated the importance of shade structures, especially those that contained places for cows to eat under the shade. More recently, sprinklers and fans placed in the eating area have been equally beneficial. Sprinkling with large droplets is more effective than using small droplets that are produced by misting or fogging. The reason is because large droplets of water penetrate the hair coat and reach the skin where heat transfer is most effective in cooling the animal. A fine mist tends to cover only the hair coat that insulates the cow. As a result, body temperature may frequently rise and result in pneumonia. In a recent study, sprinkling dairy cows with water for short periods (1.5 minutes or until cows are wet) and then force ventilating with fans (15 minutes) was beneficial in cooling cows. Fans were adjusted to blow on the cows. In the experimental study, vertical belt-driven, 3-ft diameter fans with 0.5 horsepower motors that delivered 11,000 cfm were used.Facilities vary considerably in Florida. Most dairymen are making serious attempts to cool cows during the summer by using shades, sprinklers, and fans. Cooling ponds can be found at several dairies. Cooling ponds are most beneficial when used in combination with shades.Several free-stall housing systems are now being used in Florida and it appears that more may be constructed with the passage of new environmental regulations. Even so, dry lot or corral systems with limited pasture continue to be favored by most dairymen. Trees, ventilated loafing barns, and outside artificial shade in the pastures are all used to help keep cows comfortable. Shaded eating areas with excellent drainage is a goal of most dairymen.Milking is carried out in parlors (herringbone being the most popular) or flat barns (similar to the northern stall barn). With the large herd sizes the milking facility is operated 16 to 24 hours per day. More and more herds are milked three times per day. Rotary milking parlors and rapid-exit milking parlors can be observed at a few dairies in Florida. Some of the new dairies have rapid-exit herringbone type milking parlors that vary in length from a double-20 to the double-40.The somatic cell counts in milk have been used in recent years to monitor the health of the mammary system. To monitor a particular parameter of herd health regularly provides another opportunity for identifying and controlling potential herd health problems. Changes in the measured parameter may be causes for alarm or a reassuring signal that herd health is progressing as desired. Average somatic cell counts for all Florida dairy herds in 1991 was 488,500.

WASTE SYSTEMS

Concerns regarding nutrient losses from the manure of large dairy herds to ground water or surface runoff have been extremely acute in Florida. These widely publicized concerns have been with phosphorus (P) contamination of Lake Okeechobee, probably washing off the farms in surface runoff during the summer rainy season, and with nitrogen (N) losses in the form of nitrate into the ground water through the deep sandy soils of the Suwannee River Basin. Florida is not unique. All states are starting to monitor farms where large numbers of food producing animals are maintained on small acreage to avoid nutrient "leakage" to the environment. Similar concerns exist with overapplication of commercial fertilizer which might lead to leakage of nutrients to surface or ground water. IFAS Circular 1016 by Van Horn et al. provides additional information.

LABOR

Since labor is frequently a problem, new dairies are usually designed to meet the needs and habits of the average working person. Many dairy managers prefer parlors designed for one milker because of increased efficiency while others prefer herringbone type parlors designed for two to three milkers. Regardless of the system, the basic layout for corrals and other facilities are designed around the milking facilities.

FORAGES

Forage crops can be grown in all sections of Florida. Variations in soil and climatic conditions make some areas better adapted than others but successful forage production operations are found in all parts of the state. A number of legumes and grasses are adapted to Florida conditions. Perennial or permanent grass pastures, such as the bahiagrass, bermudagrass, and pangolagrass occupy more acres than other forage crops in Florida. These can be characterized as being relatively low in protein and high in fiber. These permanent pastures often are used to "house" cows but grazing is not depended upon to deliver nutrients to the cow.More and more dairymen in Florida are growing and/or contracting for silage. Corn and sorghum silage are the preferred crops. More recently, new varieties of warm weather bermuda grasses have gained some interest. Such grasses are low management and can be harvested every 4 to 5 weeks during the summer. The summer rains make it almost impossible to harvest high quality hays. Thus, many dairymen make silage out of perennial grasses. Even so, storage losses tend to be high due to improper storage facilities. Research is continuing on the use of new inoculants and storing procedures.Other summer annual grasses are pearl-millet and sorghum-sudan hybrids which are used as grazing crops or for green chop. Pearl millet has been grown widely for many years but the sorghum-sudan hybrids have come into prominence within the past few years. Summer legumes, such as hairy indigo, aeschynoneme and alyce clover are grown in certain areas of Florida. New forage varieties grown in recent years include Florida Alfalfa 77, perennial peanut and dwarfelephant grass. Additional information is being developed on each of the new forage varieties. Perennial peanuts appear to do very well under Florida conditions and are comparable to alfalfa in feeding value. Winter forages include ryegrass, small grains, and clovers seeded into permanent grass pastures.

REPRODUCTION

Reproductive efficiency is a major problem in many Florida dairies due to stress and related diseases. Conception rates of 10 to 20% are common on dairies from June through September. Heat detection is difficult in large herds and the sub-tropical conditions in Florida tends to shorten the standing estrus. Because of this, many dairymen use heat detection patches for aiding in detecting estrus. Poor conception in July and August has caused many dairymen to skip trying to breed cows during these months. Dairymen using shade, sprinklers and fans during the summer have some improvement in conception rate.

RECORDS

Records are an important part of most Florida dairy operations. The type of record varies considerably with DHI being preferred as the best cow records. The state has seven local DHI associations. Each association covers three or more counties.

DHI records are useful to dairymen in making management decisions. Performance of Florida DHI herds and all Florida herds are compared in Table 4.

Florida's state DHI effort functions through the state organization, the Florida DHIA Board, Inc. It cooperates with the Dairy Records Processing Center at Raleigh, North Carolina for computer processing of DHI records. A regional effort is underway for development of educational aids to be used with the DHI program. Other DHI data are summarized in Table 5, Table 6, and Table 7.

MARKETING

Florida dairymen market their milk through their producer cooperatives. The two major cooperatives are the Florida Dairy Farmers' Association and the Tampa Independent Dairy Farmers Association (IDFA).Florida Dairy Cooperatives have full supply contracts with many of their customers. This allows them to obtain above order pricing of milk, but it also means that the dairymen must pay the import cost of the milk needed to supply those contracts.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Computer technology has made rapid advances in recent years and is now common on many Florida dairies. Dairymen are using a variety of programs to better manage their total operation that includes both financial and cow management systems.

ECONOMICS OF PRODUCING MILK

Nineteen herds were selected on a recent economic study to determine the costs of producing milk in Florida. The results of the study are in Table 8.

NEW STRATEGIES RECEIVING GREATER ATTENTION

1. Dry cow management practices that include condition scoring and prepartum feeding (last 3 to 4 weeks).2. Use of shades, sprinklers and fans in the eating area and housing system.3. Phase or group feeding dairy cows with ad libitum feeding in early lactation. Use of body condition scoring.4. A separate group for first calf heifers in early lactation (100 to 150 d.).5. Use of bypass protein concept in balancing rations for lactating cows (35 to 38% bypass).6. Use of higher quality forages for high producing cows.7. Use of feed additives as needed and desired.8. Quality animals with more attention to animal health. A somatic cell less than 400,000.9. Construction of more free-stall housing units.10. Improvement of waste management systems.11. More attention to the feeding and nutritional needs of dairy animals. Monitoring the nonstructural carbohydrate content of ration.12. More and more dairymen are using computers and records to improve herd management practices.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.

• Copyright 2009 |
• Site Feedback |
• About This Site