Extreme heat impacts dairy farms

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – We’re not even a third of the way through summer and it’s already been extremely hot!

You may be tempted to reach inside the refrigerator and grab a cold glass of milk.

Or head to the freezer for a bowl of ice cream.

But the heat has already had an impact on those very products you use to cool off!

Carl Chaney, a farmer at Chaney Dairy Barn says cow’s milk output drops as much as 15% when the heat rises to dangerous levels.

Think about those hot days, when you don’t feel like doing your yard work…cows experience distress from the heat, too.

Chaney say the cow act different, showing signs of heat exhaustion since they don’t sweat like humans do.

But, the cows aren’t left to swelter in the sizzling temperatures. They get their own “water park” of sorts.

Chaney Dairy Barn has fans and misters that alternate spraying the cows with cool water to help keep them more comfortable in the heat.

Just part of the process of keeping the dairy farm “mooooving” right along.