Cow, people skills combine at Herdsperson Training

Story and photos by Karen Lee

A good herdsman not only understands and manages cows, but they must also understand and be able to manage the people on their team. The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin recognized the need to cover both topics and offered specific training opportunity for this audience in early November.

Dairying Duo: Herdsperson Training took place on November 11 and 12 at University of Wisconsin’s new Arlington research facility. The first day was spent in the barns, and herdsmen were able to learn about proper care while working with live and cadaver cows. Topics included transition cow management, advanced cow care, udder health, locomotion scoring and emergency lame cow care.

Working with people was the focus of day two. Trainers Dr. Buck Joseph and Chris Hinrichs, University of Wisconsin – Madison, helped the herdsmen understand various styles of management and how to empower their teams to better perform at their assigned tasks.

Visit www.pdpw.org for additional training opportunities offered by PDPW. PD

Above: Dr. Jeff Bleck of the Kettle Moraine Large Animal Clinic uses a cow’s pelvic bone to explain why calving problems can occur.

Above: Herdsmen had the opportunity to practice emergency lame cow care on cadaver hooves.

Above: Hoof trimmer Karl Burgi demonstrates the proper way to apply a block.