Representatives from Advanced Comfort Technology, Inc. (ACT, Inc.), were on site at the University of Kentucky, assisting with the installation of 54 of the company’s DCC Waterbeds (Dual Chamber Cow Waterbeds) in the College of Agriculture’s Coldstream Dairy Research Farm. “We are excited to have DCC Waterbeds at the University of Kentucky,” said Dean Throndsen, president and CEO of ACT, Inc. “For almost 13 years we’ve seen and heard from our customers that waterbeds provide superior cow comfort with the added benefits of less maintenance, lower labor and bedding costs, and a long lifespan. Now, through our partnership with UK, we can gather data to help support the testimonials we’ve collected from waterbed users around the world.” The installation at the University of Kentucky kicks off a two-year study overseen by Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, dairy systems management extension specialist in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences, and led by Barbara Wadsworth, a graduate student in the Animal and Food Sciences program and the recipient of the ACT, Inc., Dairy Systems Management Fellowship.

Wadsworth and Bewley will develop extensive on-farm research projects to study DCC Waterbeds on a number of critical factors, including cow mobility, resting and rumination times, and milk production.

Over the course of the study term, Bewley believes the results will help connect the dots between what waterbed users say and how the technology actually performs. Further, he hopes the research will enable ACT, Inc., to effectively communicate the performance measures to dairy producers in Kentucky and around the globe.

The research environment will consist of approximately 100 cows divided evenly in two barns, where half are bedded on DCC Waterbeds and half on conventional mattresses. After six months of data is collected on a number of variables including herd health and production, the cows will switch bedding and data will be collected for an additional year. PD

—From ACT, Inc. news release

PHOTO:
Hugo Hamilton, a research technician at the University of Kentucky – Lexington’s Coldstream Dairy Research Farm, anchors a DCC Waterbed during the installation of 54 dual chamber cow waterbeds at the school on Nov. 15. The University of Kentucky is starting a two-year, on-farm research study of the performance and benefits of DCC Waterbeds. Photo courtesy of ACT, Inc.