(Host) As temperatures soar into the 90s, Vermont’s dairy farmers are making sure their cows have plenty of water and shade.
At Circle Saw Farm in Braintree, Robert Simpson is using huge ceiling fans to keep the air moving through his free-stall, open air barn.
Other dairy farms are using fans, sprinkler systems that spray mist … and good old-fashioned shade to keep their cows from overheating.
Joel Russo, assistant state veterinarian for the state Agency of Agriculture, says that when cows get too hot, they don’t eat as much, and when they don’t eat as much, they don’t produce as much milk.