SULPHUR SPRINGS – Texas AgriLife Extension Service will help the East Texas dairy industry train employees with a short course on Nov. 29 in Sulphur Springs.

The herdsman short course was developed by AgriLife Extension dairy specialists and associates to target parlor managers and milking parlor workers, said Dr. Ralph Bruno, AgriLife Extension dairy associate at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

The program will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the AgriLife Extension office for Hopkins County, 1200 W. Houston St.

The meeting will consist of classroom instruction in the morning and hands-on instruction in laboratories in the afternoon. Lectures will be presented in Spanish. Each participant will receive a notebook containing copies of the lectures and other supplemental materials to assist the participants in training their workers when they return to their respective dairies, Bruno said.

Program topics and presenters include:

– Defending milk safety in the parlor, Dr. Ellen Jordan, AgriLife Extension dairy specialist in Dallas; and Dr. Mario Villarino and Johanna Hicks, both AgriLife Extension agents in Hopkins County.

– Efficiency through leadership in the milking barn, Bruno.

– Basic physiology of lactation in dairy cows, Bruno.

– Understanding mastitis in dairy cows, Villarino.

– Anatomy of the mammary gland, Bruno.

– Diseases and pathologies of mammary glands, Villarino.

Lunch will be provided for free, but participants are asked to pre-register by Nov. 24 to help with planning, Bruno said.

To register, contact Villarino at 903-885-3726, Clint Perkins in the AgriLife Extension office for Wood County at 903-763-2924 or Stephen Gowin at the AgriLife Extension office for Rains County at 903-472-5000.

For more information, go online to http://texasdairymatters.org .

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