Dairy Experience Opens The Door For New Business
A few years ago, Rodney Kuhlwein began formulating an idea on what he could do to supply the dairy industry with a service that would help solve a problem. Having lived and worked on his father’s dairy on Ohio all his life, he was familiar with the problems some dairymen face: especially those regarding the nuisance of flies.
It was after he moved to Texas eight years ago and while working on a dairy in Dublin, Texas, that he began to seriously consider the fly problem and trying to find a way to control them. After a thorough study of insecticides, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, commercial licensing by the Texas Department of Health, insurance, and all the things necessary to set up his own business, he designed a fly-spraying device adapted from similar machines used for spraying orchards.
"Not all dairymen have the same fly problem. Some things work better at one dairy than they do at another", he said. With that in mind, he began development of his own fly spraying business.
In the past year, Kuhlwein has developed a customer dairy base where he sprays for approximately 12,000 cows. His day begins long before the sun comes up in the wee hours of the morning when the wind has died down and the flies are inactive. A mixture of chemicals and water are stored in a 300-gallon tank on the back of his truck and pumped into the spraying device. The sprayer rotates 180 degrees to get accurate coverage under the shades. The flies are killed on contact and the residual remains under the shades for approximately one week. The device is controlled from the cab of his truck.
"The chemical is not harmful to the animals," Kuhlwein said. He added that regulations by the EPA and the Texas Department of Health licensing are stringent in their efforts to safeguard against any harmful effects and the chemicals must all be approved by the agencies for dairy use.
"I try to always be as environmentally conscious as I can," Kuhlwein said, adding that he is required to follow certain state and federal regulations. "The government requires that I keep records on every job I do for at least two years and they must be readily accessible at all times."
Upon spraying, he is required to record such elements as the wind direction, the temperature, how much spray is used, the number of cows on the dairy, and the chemicals used. "Each chemical has a registered EPA number that must also be recorded." In addition, to keep his commercial license up to date, he is required to attend 15 hours of classes each year.
The spraying unit itself is designed to reduce any risk of over-spraying. It’s electrostatic unit enables Kuhlwein to use a lot less volume of spray and get better coverage at the same time.
"When the fluid reaches the nozzles, electrostatic plates are installed where the fluid develops a negative charge. That’s why it will never drench or use too much of the chemical," he said.
In addition to his own business, Kuhlwein is a dealer for Fly Guard Systems.