WHAT ABOUT SAND instead of Mayo Mats

Sand makes a great bed but there are some serious drawbacks, enough so many people who wrestle with sand for a few years decide to abandon it as a primary bedding material. Most US experts agree that sand is the best bedding from the cow’s standpoint. However, from a commercial standpoint you must have a very large operation in order to use sand efficiently. In general terms, your dairy operation must be large – 1000 cows – to cover the extra costs of handling and purchasing sand. Some operations with fewer cows than this use sand but it is quite debatable whether it is economically feasible. In these troubled times for the dairy industry you should think twice before using sand. At the very least, don ‘t just take the advice of the “experts”. Talk to someone with a similar sized operation to yours who uses sand and ask their opinion. If they still like sand after a year or two see if their system will work on your farm. Look carefully into all the variables.

1. You must use the right kind of sand and it is not always readily available. The wrong sand will turn to cement in the back of the stall.

2. For good hygiene, sand stalls should be tended twice a day just like any other kind of stall. That means you should walk down the alley while cows are being milked and pull out any soiled sand from the back of the stall. If you don’t do this sand is just as unhygienic as any other kind of stall.

3. For comfort, sand stalls should be leveled every day. Cows will dig out the sand down to the stall base. Obviously the advantages of sand vanish if you don’t re-level the sand every day. (At the time this website was being prepared a number of customers were considering using Mayo Mats at the bottom of their sand stalls. We think this would be an excellent idea as it would eliminate the problem of cows digging out the stall)

4. Sand must be separated from manure for spreading.

5. Sand wears out equipment

6. Sand is expensive

7. Sand settles in your lagoon and eventually must be dredged.

8. There are high labor costs associated with sand – you have better things
to do with your time or your employee’s time.

We believe Mayo Mats are a better approach to bedding cows than sand in most normal-sized operations.