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F A R M S K I L L S
With cows coming in from their summer at
pasture, autumn is the ideal time to take a
fresh look at your milking routines on the farm
and iron out any issues; be they mastitis
problems or record keeping etc. for the
period ahead.
Good record keeping and communication
between staff are essential to the dairy
farm business in order to:
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Minimise losses from waste milk, e.g.
antibiotic failures, milk taint, high SCC
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Planning for mastitis and SCC control,
fertility and feeding
It is important that all dairy staff, be they part
of a large shift team,or small family enterprise,
know and understand the role of clear,
concise and obvious communication and that
all happenings that have a possible further
outcome are noted and left in a place that
the team members and the next shift can
readily access.
When to milk
Milking interval is usually determined by
conditions on farm and labour availability.
Many farms adopt a 10-14 hours milking
interval or, increasingly, 12-12 hours.
Research has shown that twelve hour intervals
result in higher lactation yields which suggests
that equal intervals are a more efficient way
of milking. Extending the milking interval over
14 hours leads to a yield penalty of 5%,
increasing as the interval increases.
Labour availability and cost can also
determine how many times a day milking
takes place. Twice daily milking is the most
common. More frequent milking gives yield
benefits of up to 15% (although bear in mind
that overall costs may not make three times
per day milking economic):
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Milking three times a day increases milk
production by 5-15%;
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Lactation becomes more persistent and
prolonged.
The reason for this is unclear but it is thought
that increased milking results in greater release
of prolactin from the pituitary gland, which
may lead to the production of more secretory
tissue in the udder and a reduction in the
chemical feedback inhibitor.
Frequent milking has both long term and short
term effects. In the short term, it leads to
increased activity in the milk secreting cells
while in the long term it leads to an increase
in the actual number of milk secreting cells.
Milking routines:
The economics
of getting it right
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
19
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
It could be argued that the milking period is the most
important part of the day, so it is essential to get
things right for both productivity and welfare, as well
as for economic reasons.
DID YOU KNOW
that it takes about
60-90 seconds for milk let-down
to happen after pressure has been
applied to the teat, though this
time varies between different cows,
age of cow and stage of lactation
and can also be affected by a cow
being fearful, stressed, in pain
or discomfort.
Four factors which are worth further
consideration/training for staff:
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Understand the principles of milking
machine mechanics and milking
cow physiology.
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Knowledge of best practice for
milking routine and milking machine
maintenance.
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Knowledge of best practice for
controlling mastitis and somatic
cell counts.
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Implement suitable recording systems
and lines of communication between
staff.