Editing Dairy (section)

==Farming==
{{main|Dairy farming}}
{{See also|Dairy cattle}}
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 4794 Milking cow.jpg|thumb|A cow being milked in [[Mandatory Palestine|British Palestine]], 1936]]
When it became necessary to milk larger cows, the cows would be brought to a [[shed]] or [[Barn (building)|barn]] that was set up with stalls ([[milking stall]]s) where the cows could be confined their whole life while they were milked. One person could milk more cows this way, as many as 20 for a skilled worker. But having cows standing about in the yard and shed waiting to be milked is not good for the cow, as she needs as much time in the paddock grazing as is possible. It is usual to restrict the twice-daily milking to a maximum of an hour and a half each time. It makes no difference whether one milks 10 or 1000 cows, the milking time should not exceed a total of about three hours each day for any cow as they should be in stalls and laying down as long as possible to increase comfort which will in turn aid in milk production.  A cow is physically milked for only about 10 minutes a day depending on her milk letdown time and the number of milkings per day.

As [[herd]] sizes increased there was more need to have efficient milking machines, sheds, milk-storage facilities ([[Bulk tank|vats]]), bulk-milk transport and shed cleaning capabilities and the means of getting cows from paddock to shed and back.

As herd numbers increased so did the problems of [[animal health]]. In New Zealand two approaches to this problem have been used. The first was improved [[veterinary medicine]]s (and the government regulation of the medicines) that the farmer could use. The other was the creation of ''veterinary clubs'' where groups of farmers would employ a [[Veterinary medicine|veterinarian]] (vet) full-time and share those services throughout the year. It was in the vet's interest to keep the animals healthy and reduce the number of calls from farmers, rather than to ensure that the farmer needed to call for service and pay regularly.

This daily milking routine goes on for about 300 to 320 days per year that the cow stays in milk. Some small herds are milked once a day for about the last 20 days of the production cycle but this is not usual for large herds. If a cow is left unmilked just once she is likely to reduce milk-production almost immediately and the rest of the season may see her ''dried off'' (giving no milk) and still consuming feed. However, once-a-day milking is now being practised more widely in New Zealand for profit and lifestyle reasons. This is effective because the fall in milk yield is at least partially offset by labour and cost savings from milking once per day. This compares to some intensive farm systems in the United States that milk three or more times per day due to higher milk yields per cow and lower marginal [[labour costs]].

Farmers who are contracted to supply liquid milk for human consumption (as opposed to milk for processing into butter, cheese, and so on—see milk) often have to manage their [[herd]] so that the contracted number of cows are in milk the year round, or the required minimum milk output is maintained. This is done by mating cows outside their natural mating time so that the period when each cow in the herd is giving maximum production is in rotation throughout the year.

Northern hemisphere farmers who keep cows in barns almost all the year usually manage their herds to give continuous production of milk so that they get paid all year round. In the southern hemisphere the [[cooperative]] dairying systems allow for two months of no productivity because their systems are designed to take advantage of maximum grass and milk production in the spring and because the milk processing plants pay bonuses in the dry (winter) season to carry the farmers through the mid-winter break from milking. It also means that cows have a rest from milk production when they are most heavily pregnant. Some year-round milk farms are penalised financially for [[overproduction]] at any time in the year by being unable to sell their overproduction at current prices.

[[Artificial insemination]] (AI) is common in all high-production herds in order to improve the genetics of the female offspring which will be raised for replacements. AI also reduces the need for keeping potentially dangerous bulls on the farm. Male calves are sold to be raised for beef or veal, or slaughtered due to lack of profitability.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What happens to bobby calves? – RSPCA Knowledgebase|url=https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-happens-to-bobby-calves/|access-date=8 December 2020|language=en-AU}}</ref> A cow will calve or freshen about once a year, until she is culled because of declining production, infertility or other health problems. Then the cow will be sold, most often going to slaughter.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://freefromharm.org/dairyfacts/ |title=10 Dairy Facts the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know |access-date=19 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220092250/https://freefromharm.org/dairyfacts/ |archive-date=20 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>