Team: Sorge, U. (PI), Bender, J., Stanton, A.

 

Funding Source: MN Agricultural Experiment Station

 

Project Time Frame: 2014-2015

 

The goal is to identify new approaches to reduce worker injuries in dairies and to improve cattle flow and productivity on dairy farms. The working hypothesis is that stockmanship training will improve cattle flow and production on dairy farms and also decrease the incidence of injuries of dairy workers. The specific objectives of the study are: 1) Audit the current stockmanship knowledge, skills and behaviors of the dairy workforce, 2) To prospectively describe the occurrence of injuries of Minnesota dairy farm workers, and 3) Assess the impact of stockmanship training on stockmanship skills, cattle flow and productivity and worker injury frequency on Minnesota and Wisconsin dairy farms.