ABSTRACT
Sprinklers along with fans are used for evaporative cooling to relieve heat stress in dairy cows during hot periods of the year. Their use has shown increased cow comfort (lowered body temperature and respiration rates) and economic increases in milk production and reproductive performance.[2,3] Application rates used by dairymen vary. Florida experiments compared application rates of 51 gal per cow per day, 88 gal per cow per day, and 108 gal per cow per day at 10 psi in one experiment and 13 gal per cow per day, 25 gal per cow per day, and 40 gal per cow per day in another experiment. The application rate, 13 gal per cow per day, is close to the estimated evaporation rate from the cow and surrounding floors. This component should be considered in water use but not in runoff water that must be managed in the manure management system. We estimate 25 gal per cow per day as the minimum practical application rate in order to get adequate coverage of cows to cool them because often they are not in the sprinkled area. Total application days per year vary from 120 days to 240 days. A separate water well, or reserve tank and booster pump, may be needed to supply short-term high demand required by the sprinkler system.
