The objective of this study was to measure natural gas for heating, electricity, and water use to determine specific areas of high consumption in a seasonal calving Midwest dairy parlor. Data were collected in a Swing-9 parabone milking parlor at the West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris, Minnesota, pasture-based dairy. Natural gas, electricity, water use, and milk production were monitored from 2014 to 2016. Average herd size across the study period was 212 cows milked. Multiple electric loads were monitored on the barn side of the electric utility meter to reveal areas of highest usage. Consumption of natural gas, electricity, and water were recorded and expressed per kilogram of milk produced (Table 1). Total natural gas and electricity use ranged from 0.29 to 0.46 MJ and 0.27 to 0.33 MJ, respectively. Water use ranged from 1.29 to 1.49 L/kg of milk produced. Natural gas used for heating the milking parlor used the largest proportion of total energy in all 3 years of the study. As expected, natural gas use remained low during warmer months (average = 0.2 MJ/kg milk/d from May to September) and increased during colder months (average = 0.6 MJ/kg milk/d from November to March). Seasonal consumption trends of electricity use mirrored the seasonal milk production curve. Total electricity usage increased from May to August as well as during November to February when milk production peaked compared with other months. Improving the efficiency of thermal and electrical components and reducing water consumption could provide opportunities to improve the carbon footprint and sustainability of dairy production systems. Table 1. Natural gas, electricity, and water used by the dairy parlor to harvest milk

Usage	Year
2014	2015	2016
Natural gas, MJ/kg milk	0.46	0.37	0.29
Electricity, MJ/kg milk	0.33	0.27	0.27
Total MJ/kg milk	0.89	0.74	0.27
Water, L/kg milk	1.49	1.38	1.29
Energy use,1 % of total MJ
Parlor heat	35.0	43.0	34.0
Water heating	28.0	21.0	24.0
Milk cooling	8.0	10.0	11.0
Miscellaneous	14.0	7.0	6.0

¹Only includes the 4 highest consuming electrical loads.