The cows in Nicolas Joannon's herd, in Saint-Martin-en-Haut (Rhône), are suffocating.
At 780 meters above sea level, the scorching temperature of 34°C is very high for animals that suffer from 22°C.
To spare them, this breeder had two giant fans, 4.5 meters in diameter, installed above the stalls of his herd in 2020.
The blades automatically start rotating according to the temperature.
The more the heat increases, the more they accelerate.
An investment of 9,000 euros that the operator, at the head of 45 hectares, does not regret today.
His animals have found pep "since there are the ventilos", he assures AFP.
“As the climate changes, breeders are constantly adapting,” he explains.
When temperatures rise, animals are under heat stress and tend to eat less and produce a little less milk.
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A loss of two liters of milk per day
“If we put them in the right conditions to get through these events, immediately after the heat wave, the animals will return to their initial level of performance and continue to produce quality milk for consumers”, assures the operator.
Dairy cows are very sensitive to temperatures.
From 22°C and 50% hygrometry, they accumulate heat in their body with an impact on milk production.
This, which averages between 28 and 38 liters per day per cow, is estimated at a loss of 2 liters per cow.
A measure far from sufficient
However, these devices must come "in addition" to "good practices": "breeders must favor evening feeding or the addition of additional drinkers", since cows can drink up to 180 liters of water per day. , explains Alexandre Batia, ventilation manager at Rhône Conseil Élevage.
“Until then, it was a problem rather in the southern regions, but today, we realize that even in Hauts-de-France or Finistère, we have temperatures which rise very strongly”, observes from his on the side of Bertrand Fagoo, project manager at the French Livestock Institute (Idele).
For this expert, the installation of fans is a “secondary improvement factor”, which must occur after opening the building and providing more shade.
“Hot, stale air should not be stirred in a closed enclosure,” insists the researcher.
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