Dairy cows at Hoewisch Dairy Farm in Fremont. July 6, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
FREMONT, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The recent heat and humidity is impacting more than just the people of Northeast Wisconsin, it’s impacting the cows.
“Heat is not a cow’s friend in the summer time,” said Kevin Jarek, UW-Madison Extension Crops & Soils Educator.
Cows especially feel stress with long stretches of heat, warm overnight temperatures
Cows begin feeling heat stress about 70 degrees, experiencing more and more adverse effects as the temperature climbs. It directly impacts milk production.
“The cow is going to eat less,” said Jarek. “Because she’s eating less, she’s not going to have as much energy to produce milk.”
When the temperatures exceed 70 degrees, cows may produce 3-10 pounds fewer of milk per day, a 5-15% drop, despite a cow drinking 80-100 gallons of water per day during summer. That can cost the average (240 cows) farmer as much as $13,000 in a month.
If the nighttime temperature stays above 70 degrees for several days, effects can be fatal for a calf.
“We may lose a fetus for the fact that her body overheated for too long of a period,” said Jacob Hoewisch, owner/operations manager of the fifth-generation Hoewisch Dairy Farm.
For cattle, a 90-degree day is worse than extreme cold.
Farmers adapting with tracking technology, modern designed barns
But farmers are adapting in ways that their grandparents and great-grandparents couldn’t dream of. Hoewisch’s milking cows each have trackers, what he calls Fitbits for cows.
“Those are nice to look at to see if the herd as a whole has recovered overnight,” said Hoewisch.
It tracks body temperature, ensures the cows are eating, and even gives farmers data on their cycles to inseminate the cows. The technology became popular less than a decade ago.
Dairy barns have also advanced in recent years – gone are the days of the picturesque red barn lining the highway, but with no windows or airflow for cows. Instead, barns are designed to allow wind to cool cows and equipped with heavy-duty fans that blow in one direction through the barn. The barns are also lined with sprinklers.
Now the methods may have changed over the last half-century, but it’s much better for the cow. And if it helps the cow, it helps the farmer, and eventually, those of us drinking the milk.
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