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	Editorial
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Lighten Up!
Extra Illumination Spurs Dairy Production
(charts click here)

   Dairy producers exist in a world where quick fixes are few and far between. So the idea of flipping on a switch and turning on milk production would seem something dreams are made of. Or is it?

   Dairy specialists for nearly a decade have been touting the benefits of turning on the lights to turn on milk production. Sound too good to be true? Maybe, but consider this: The effect of long days on milk production in dairy cattle has been confirmed in numerous studies for more than two decades across North America and Europe. Average claims are that milk yield goes up 8 to 10 percent with long days.

   Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Biological Systems Engineering suggests that exposing cows to supplemental light, particularly during the short days in fall and winter months, can increase milk production by about 5 to 16 percent. However, researchers noted, producers do need to consider the cost for extra feed as well as the lights. But numerous studies show that the value of the extra milk pays for the increased feed intake as well as the lights—and leaves a net profit.

From Research to the Barn

   When Don Heidenreich first heard of “long-day lighting” at a local meeting sponsored by his veterinary service about three years ago, the idea that supplemental lighting could increase production seemed worth investigating. So he immediately contacted his electrical service provider, Richland Electric Cooperative, and asked staff there for advice and assistance. “I knew they could help me figure out what I needed,” relates Don.

   Heidenreich and his wife, Sara, have been operating their 44-cow dairy near Richland Center since buying the farm from Don’s father in 1981. Their tie-stall barn is typical of facilities across Wisconsin housing small and medium-sized herds. One of the benefits of long-day lighting is that—unlike other production-enhancement technologies—it does not require additional labor on a daily basis, making it an appealing management practice for herds of all sizes.

   “Don is the kind of guy who is doing about everything right,” says Jeff Joseph, member services representative for Richland Electric Cooperative. “He’s kept his herd average above 25,000 lbs., he’s switched to sand for bedding, and he’s put in a tunnel ventilation system. He also uses a nutritionist and relies on sound genetics.”

Low Cost, Low Hassle

   Heidenreich says he didn’t notice any sizable jumps in his electric bill when he switched to long-day lighting. Joseph says Heidenreich made use of energy-efficient fixtures. He estimates long-day lighting is probably costing the farm in the neighborhood of $1.50 a day or a little over 3¢ per cow. This is consistent with research that suggests costs of 1 to 3¢ per cow, depending on facility and lighting needs.

   “Switching to long-day lighting was easy enough and didn’t cause a lot of disruption in the barn,” says Heidenreich. “The lights are on a timer set to keep the barn lit from 4:30 a.m. to about 10:30 p.m.”

   Heidenreich says an increase in production is hard for him to measure, as other factors with potential to impact production came into play at about the same time he went to long-day lighting. “But it’s worth a lot just to have a lot better lighting out here with the cows,” he adds. “It wasn’t difficult. I just ordered the lighting fixtures, and Jeff showed me how to do it. The upkeep isn’t bad, either. I haven’t replaced all of the bulbs yet in the three years we’ve had them up. They’ve been no trouble.”

   Heidenreich’s experience is fairly typical as research has shown that in addition to increased production, producers can expect a safer, more productive place to work.

   Joseph suggests that in addition to enjoying better lighting, it’s likely Heidenreich is seeing an increase in production of at least 4 percent, even if it is difficult to measure on the farm. When installing supplemental lighting fixtures, he recommends maintaining 15 to 20 foot-candles at eye level over the feeding or manger area. He is able to measure the lighting at Heidenreich’s facility with a light meter to ensure the added lighting is doing its job. He says Heidenreich’s lights are controlled by digital timers that can be adjusted periodically throughout the year.

   “University studies indicate that you typically see 8- to 16-percent production increase by maintaining 16 to 18 hours of light in the feeding area. But you also need to provide about six to seven hours of darkness in the middle of the night in order to see a milk response,” Joseph says.

Light and Hormones

   Geoffrey Dahl, dairy specialist at the University of Illinois Department of Animal Science, has done considerable research on long-day lighting. He explains that long-day lighting or “photoperiod manipulation” works like this: Light hits the cow’s eye and causes a signal to suppress the release of the hormone melatonin. As darkness falls, the inhibitory impact of the light is removed and the melatonin secretion goes back up. Livestock use the daily pattern of melatonin to set their internal clocks, which in turn affects secretion of a number of hormones that impact milk yield.

   Dahl also says that higher milk yield can be observed using a number of lighting types. Therefore, he says producers should consider their cost of operation and installation ease when making decisions on lamps. For that reason, he says that fluorescent lights—such as those used on the Heidenreich farm—as well as metal halide and high-pressure sodium are most often recommended.

   Producers can contact their electric co-op to assist in estimating the number of fixtures required to achieve desired foot-candle intensity in their facilities.

Response Ranges

   Dahl cautions that milk production response typically takes two to four weeks and is gradual, and therefore it may not be as noticeable as some other management changes that have shorter lag periods for response.

   What about dry cows and heifers? Some research has indicated that dry cows do not benefit from long-day lighting, and in fact cows may need a dry period of “short days” in order to reset their internal clocks so that they can better respond to long-day lighting effects upon freshening. Research has shown, however, that heifers often display increased growth and feed intake and greater mammary development when exposed to long-day lighting.

   Lighting for herds milked three times per day takes extra consideration and cows may need to be grouped with different lighting systems in order to ensure all cows receive at least six hours of darkness. Dahl adds that red bulbs may be used to provide supplemental lighting during dark periods without any affect on photoperiod response.

   You can get more information on long-day lighting in dairy facilities by contacting your local electric cooperative or county extension agent. As dairy producers continue to look for ways to improve efficiency and profitability, long-day lighting offers herds of all sizes a low-cost opportunity for increased production, improved heifer growth, and better working conditions. So go ahead—lighten up!—Lori Weaver

This chart summarize estimates by researchers at the University of Illinois and Iowa State University of expected net profits for an 80-cow tie-stall barn, given varying milk price levels. Even more dramatic savings are projected for larger herds in free-stall enclosures.

Larger Herd

Cleanly Creative:
Projects to Boost Power, Cut Waste

   As far as anybody knows here in the early 21st century, it’s technically impossible to generate electricity totally free of environmental impact. Even the cleanest technologies have some sort of footprint, and those who have followed the recent history of energy infrastructure development in Wisconsin are not unfamiliar with calls to “mitigate” the effect of projects whose net environmental benefits are obvious.

   So a generation concept requiring little or no mitigation—because it is mitigation—is something just about anyone would probably welcome. And just such a concept is making rapid progress in areas served by Dairyland Power Cooperative.

   By year’s end, five new facilities are expected to be producing power for the growing electrical needs of Dairyland customers—and simultaneously whittling away at a familiar environmental problem.

Herding Electrons

   Microgy Cogeneration Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Environmental Power Corporation, is moving ahead with plans to build and operate anaerobic manure digesters on farms in the Dairyland area. They will ferment each farm’s collected manure in an oxygen-free environment, producing methane gas to fuel on-site electric generation. (See initial story in the June 2003 Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News, archived at www.wecnmagazine.com.)

   Since mid-December, Microgy has concluded agreements with five large dairy farming operations. Dairyland Communications Specialist Katie Thomson says all five should be up and running in 2004, making enough electricity to power about 3,000 homes.

   All are on local co-op lines. The Wild Rose Dairy at La Farge is served by Vernon Electric Cooperative; Five Star Dairy at Elk Mound by Dunn Energy Cooperative; Bach Farms at Dorchester by Taylor Electric; Norswiss Dairy at Rice Lake by Barron Electric; and Daly Farms Dairy at Pine Island, Minnesota, by People’s Cooperative Services of Rochester.

   Neil Kennebeck, Dairyland’s director of planning services, says the five units will be a standard size, 750 kilowatts each.

   “We’re taking a cookie-cutter approach for a couple of reasons,” Kennebeck says. “It’s easier for regulators to go through their permitting process if the units are identical, and it’s also easier for the Rural Utilities Service [an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture offering low-cost loans] to provide financing.”

   The standard design is suitable for a dairy herd of about a thousand animals, but experience will bring flexibility. “We’re hoping to get smarter as we go along and begin to address smaller herd sizes,” Kennebeck says, adding, “For now, the economy of scale is important.”

   The five units will take the cooperative about 15 percent of the way to its goal of obtaining 25 megawatts from anaerobic digestion within the next several years.

Energy Alchemy

   Most generation methods involve taking a raw material with other valuable uses, burning it to convert heat energy into electrical energy, then dealing with the disposal problems presented by any undesirable byproducts.

   Anaerobic digestion involves taking a raw material that in itself represents a disposal problem, extracting from it the fuel to make electricity, and converting what remains into byproducts that have value of their own.

   Instead of contributing to the waste stream, anaerobic digestion reduces it. Of the leftovers from the process, about half is a liquid containing phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium in mineralized form and available for immediate plant uptake when spread on croplands as fertilizer. The solids can be used as composted cow manure or even as bedding for cows.

   “All the pathogens are dead,” Kennebeck says. “All the weed seeds are dead. Everything flies eat is gone, so there will be a lot fewer flies. The smell is gone. It makes you a better neighbor.”

   And if that’s not enough, in this co-generation system the waste heat from the generator turbines will be used for water-heating to heat the digester as well as being available for space-heating.

   Aside from turning a problem into an opportunity, not much changes for the farmer. “The farmer just farms,” Thomson says. “He has to supply the manure, but he’d have that anyway.”

Spreading the Word

   “We hope to move into swine once we learn how to do dairy,” says Kennebeck, possibly thinking about the southwest portion of Dairyland’s five-state service area.

   Iowa officials are looking for ways to deal with livestock waste from large pork-producing facilities. Early last month, Kennebeck and Thomson made a presentation to three committees of the Iowa Legislature.

   “It was really a learning event for them,” Thomson explained. Among the things they learned was that anaerobic digestion reduces odor from livestock waste by 90–95 percent.

   And Thomson notes the information plays into an existing interest in renewables. “There’s quite a bit of wind energy in Iowa and they hear a lot about wind, but with this they’re seeing there’s more than wind out there,” she says.

   “I just love talking about this,” Thomson adds. “It’s multiple wins across the board. It’s just such a positive project.”—Dave Hoopman

 

Editorial
by Perry Baird

Coil Cleanup Controversy

   We’ve sometimes heard it joked that all it takes to qualify as an “expert” in a particular forum is to hail from more than 50 miles distant.

   Well, a quoted source in a feature we published last month on “energy myths” came from even farther away than that—and had credentials as a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to boot. However, it seems on one particular piece of research, Evan Mills fell short.

   One of the myths the article sought to debunk was the practice of cleaning refrigerator coils as a way to save energy. “Efforts to measure this effect have shown that there is no energy savings to be had,” the story reported, citing Mills’ research.

Conflicting Claims

   As chance would have it, in at least a couple of stories carried on the local co-ops’ pages of Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News last month, the opposite assertion—that cleaning coils does save electricity—appeared as an energy-saving tip. The fact that the conflicting claims were within pages of each other (and that there are evidently some exceedingly observant magazine readers), we’ve been getting letters, e-mails, and phone calls from members wondering which pronouncement was true.

   To resolve the matter, we went to some seasoned cooperative employees—individuals who may not conduct laboratory experiments or write research reports, but who daily work with appliances of varying vintages in real-world settings. Our “panel of experts” included Pat Reierson of Central Wisconsin Electric Co-op, Ryan Nielsen at Clark Electric, Jerry Reuterskiold at Adams–Columbia Electric, and Tony Tinder and Darrell Coggins at Jump River Electric.

   Their Uniform assessment: Cleaning coils on refrigerators will improve air flow over the coils and allow for better release of heat, which is key to the refrigeration process. A fridge’s compressor would thereby need to work less, which means both saving a certain amount of electricity and extending the life of the compressor and the appliance.

Calculation Candor

   Ryan, Tony, and Darrell told of instances where totally nonfunctioning refrigerators cooled normally after nothing more than a coil cleaning. Fridges that have coil arrays under the unit and near the floor seem to be most susceptible to clinging dust and pet hair, they noted. Some of the newest models have unexposed coils that the manufacturer says never need cleaning.

   Jerry suggested that the reason Mills’ studies may not have shown electricity savings is that the kilowatt-hour totals—particularly on newer, inherently more efficient appliances—may have been so small over a short period as to appear statistically insignificant. “You’re looking at a very small part of your overall electric bill,” Jerry said, pointing out extra costs could be on the order of just a few dollars per year, depending on the size and age of the appliance and dirt accumulation.

   All agreed that more financially significant is the replacement or repair of an appliance whose compressor works itself to an earlier death due to buildup on the coils. Our resident experts’ bottom line: If they’re the type of coils you can get at, you’ll likely save both energy and other expense by cleaning them.

   March is too early for much color outdoors, but you’ll find all you can absorb in the charming Green Hills Gallery on a farm near Whitehall, where Wendy Schaefer-Miles and her husband, Kevin Miles, showcase their voluptuously hued oil paintings.

   The art of Schaefer and Miles is outstanding by any criteria, but the large landscapes are doubly unique because the husband-and-wife team work together to complete each canvas. Both Wendy and Kevin became acclaimed artists early in life, but when they not only married but also married their particular skills, their art became world renowned. Their originals are often literally sold before the paint is dry.

   The question most often posed to the couple is “How do you paint together?” Kevin explains, “Wendy is the free spirit with the brush. She loves to go at a blank canvas with gusto. Brilliant color and a flittering brush stroke are the tools she uses to create the lushness you see in our works. On the other hand, my contribution is more analytical and less lyrical…(creating) a canvas that envelopes you with light.”

   When the two artists work together, the result is a stunning blend of Wendy’s sense of composition and color, highlighted with Kevin’s addition of light, distance, and depth. Browsing in their gallery on a dreary day is the next best thing to a leisurely stroll in a garden awash with blooms.

   Recently, the talented painters were honored to receive a prestigious award from Wisconsin’s governor during the state’s Celebration of the Arts. As a result of the couple’s honor, a commissioned Schaefer–Miles work is displayed in Madison’s Elvehjem Art Museum.

   While at the Green House Gallery, be sure to check into the custom framing that is offered there. Frames can be designed there to complement your purchases at the gallery or any other piece of art.

   Green Hills Gallery is located at N36898 County Road D., just north of Whitehall, and is open 9–5 weekdays (and also by appointment on weekends). For information, call 715/538-4625 or 1-800-474-4625, or visit www.schaefer-miles.com.—Linda Hilton