Design of a Mobile Shade and Cooling Structure for Grazing Dairy Herds

The U.S. organic dairy industry has experienced significant growth in recent years: over 10% growth annually since 2009 and 14.5% from 2010 to 2011; total market share is approximately 5% in the United States. The USDA places certain requirements on diary products that are certified organic, some of which are aimed at grazing practices. One challenge farmers must overcome to comply is keeping the cows in optimum conditions in a free-range grazing scenario; poor conditions such as excessive heat can decrease milk production and pose an economic burden on the dairy. The proposed system intends to control environmental conditions for free-range dairy cows with respect to temperature-humidity index, a measure of animal comfort and stress. Using a combination of evaporative cooling and a large shaded area, this mobile system will monitor and control environmental parameters via actuation of its water sprinklers and fans. This intelligent control will continually react to present conditions and forecast data, with additional connectivity and manual control. The design is expected to maintain ideal conditions, through active cooling means, far better than passive methods such as shade trees within the field. In situ testing will validate this prediction via the on-board data collection.

The authors of this project were joint recipients of the William Harris III Undergraduate Research Award in the College of Engineering division.