His cows seem to like it, too. "They get on. They're calm. They don't want to get off," said Cabaniss, a third-generation dairyman in Taliaferro County.

Three times a day, his 500 dairy cows wait patiently in line to take a gentle spin 60 at a time on the giant carousel, chewing their cuds, contented with the world as they give the milk that keeps the Cabaniss family farm in business.

Unique in Georgia

The idea for the carousel milking system and the platform came from New Zealand, said Warren Gilson, a dairy scientist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The system is the only one Gilson knows of in Georgia and one of the more modern versions anywhere. "Carousels have been around for a number of years," he said. "This is just one of the more up-to-date versions."

The big advantage is that the carousel brings the cows to the milker instead of having the milker walk back and forth to the cows. "It's a very efficient system of getting the cows milked," Gilson said.

Indeed.

In the old milking barn, the Cabaniss family would milk about 70 cows per hour. With the carousel system, they now milk about 400 per hour. They can milk their entire herd in about 90 minutes.

That efficiency dramatically reduces the labor needed. "We had seven milking people. Now we have just three," Cabaniss said.

"Labor can be a big expense, and in many cases it's unavailable," Gilson said, "particularly with the tight labor market today. Labor is almost nonexistent out there in the farm community."

More Milk, Too

On the dairy-go-round, each cow gives a little more milk, too -- about a pint more per day. Cabaniss figures it's because the cows aren't stressed. They like the ride. "I guess if we had feed on it they'd never want to get off," he said.

The big question for dairies is whether slashed labor costs and the slight milk increase add up to a profit. The Cabaniss family hopes so. They never want to go back to the old way of milking.

Since the farm began using the carousel in July, it has given Cabaniss something that's making dairying more attractive. "I get to spend a lot more time at home," he said. He figures he gets about five more hours a day with his family.