Cow comfort and management consistency are business basics for us at Prairie Gold Dairy LLC. Our 3,600-cow dairy farm is located off the I-29 corridor in Elkton, South Dakota.
We believe keen attention to detail has aided our success at Prairie Gold. Our sunrise-to-sunset commitment to keeping cows comfortable includes rubber floor ways, and a “free-stall” barn where cows can move about for feed and water, or rest in stalls bedded with soft, dry, comfortable sand.
Ninety-five percent of this sand is recycled, using a system where manure and sand are scraped from each pen into a section of the barn where clean lagoon water washes everything down into a gravity-flow sand settling lane. The reclaimed sand is then moved into storage piles to dry out. We take pride in our sustainable practices that aid cow comfort and create environmentally friendly practices on our farm.
Our herd veterinarian emphasizes prevention to keep cows healthy. Fresh cows are checked every morning. We walk through all the pens of cows at least once a day to look for any cows that may need extra attention. Close attention to cow comfort has allowed our dairy herd to keep the milk pipeline full.
Strict milking procedures attest to our farm’s mission statement: to profitably produce wholesome dairy products in a manner that benefits our cows, employees, environment, and the consumer. Keeping healthy cows in a comfortable and clean environment is critical to producing high-quality milk, as is having well-trained employees with a passion for caring for cows and doing things the right way.