As America's dairy industry endures tough times, farmers who hope to hang on are turning to every bit of technology they can find and afford.
In this Dec. 4, 2019, photo cows are milked on a large carousel at the Rosendale Dairy in Pickett, Wis. At Rosendale Dairy, each of the 9,000 cows has a microchip implanted in an ear that workers can scan with smartphones for up-to-the-minute information on how the animal is doing, everything from their nutrition to their health history to their productivity. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

That means buying robots that can milk cows faster and better than humans. Or getting planting equipment that knows where the most fertile ground is to plant seeds for feed.

Technology has played an important role in agriculture for years but it’s become a life and death matter at dairy farms these days, as low milk prices have ratcheted up pressure on farmers to seek every possible efficiency to avoid joining the thousands of operations that have failed.

As I contemplate the rampant spread of bird flu through America’s cattle herd, I’m reminded of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.

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