Minnesota dairy farmers turn to tech to keep cows cool in extreme heat

We know what the heat does to people and pets, but it also poses a challenge for Minnesota farmers trying to keep their livestock healthy during hot days. 

"It's a busy time of year and the heat definitely adds another component of that," said Dan Glessing, of Glessing Family Farm near Howard Lake. 

For Glessing, getting his cows ready for the county fair is a lot easier when they're not overheating — but that's a challenge during a July heatwave. 

Keeping dairy cows cool on days like these is tricky for a couple reasons. For one, their natural body temperature is higher than humans.

A comfortable 75 and sunny for us is hotter for them, so the mid-90s is a problem and can lead to a drop in milk production, especially when they insist on being close together in a herd.

Glessing uses a cow manager system on his phone which is connected to an orange tag in each cows' ear. It closely monitors body temperature. 

"She was kind of running normally, and then the last couple days you can see that kind of goes up," said Glessing, while checking on one of his cows. "Technology has come a long ways in the last 10 years."  

When body temperatures run high, Glessing can make adjustments. Last year, he added 50-inch fans which increased air circulation. 

"Water is critically important when it's like this. No different than us as humans," he said. 

And like humans might head to a sprinkler, Glessing brings the sprinkler to his cows through his "cow sprinkler" system. 

"We've got a box that tells us the temperature and the hotter it gets, the more they come on as well as the longer the duration they come on," he said. 

On hot days like Monday one, they'll run frequently. It's all about keeping the animals safe, the heat concerns down and dairy production up. 

"You can see that they aren't panting or huffing, so that's a good sign that they cool down overnight," he said.

Glessing says his beef cattle, like his dairy cows, also require good shade, bedding and plenty of water throughout the day.