More recently, milking efficiency has become a major topic for discussion and this needs to continue to develop dairying to the scale we see today. One question I started asking the various groups during the DairyNZ Milksmart programme was if you had the choice would you choose to milk faster or to milk easier?
By far the majority of farm staff wanted life to be easier, with quicker an advantage but not if it meant they would be exhausted at the end of each working day. One point stands out as dairying intensifies – if we want to make life easier for ourselves we have to design dairies so that cows enjoy them more. Then we won’t need to force them to do our bidding.
We need to consider three things; the cows, the people, and the facilities, in that order, by making it easier for the cows to do whatever they can to help, finding ways for you to do things more easily, and altering the facilities to suit. Start by thinking what cows don’t like and fix it.
Slippery concrete
We want cows to move quickly and positively into the bail area. Watch them walking on slippery concrete and you can see real fear – fear that costs production as well as their safety. Roughen it up until they can feel safe again.
A scabbler, readily available from hire firms, is perfect with the alternative of grooving also available commercially. Overlaying with sand and cement with a ‘sticker’ as a temporary measure also works. The difference to cow flow can be amazing.
Bail area
Make the bail area a comfortable place to be. If cows will not walk in by themselves there has to be something wrong with the design or with management.
High breast rails are particularly bad so lower them to 760mm from the concrete to the top of pipe for Friesians and 700mm for Jerseys.
Are you frightened they will jump over with the rail so low? Then fit an over-the-neck rail for the five to six cows at the exit end so they quickly learn that jumping will not work. Make it about 1400mm and roughly align it with the breast rail. It’s good if the breast rails can be made adjustable so you get fewer missed bails and double-ups but this may be outside your budget.
Protect cows from injury
Old-fashioned herringbones were bad for this with vertical pipes everywhere that cows could bump into. Check your place. Are there any areas that get rubbed all the time? Can they be eliminated?
An automatic teat sprayer at the exit which is simple and effective when properly adjusted.
Modern machines work well and do not interfere with cow flow. Install them in a herringbone right at the head gate and in a rotary either have a between-the-legs sprayer close to the exit or walkover in the exit race.
Drafting
There are some terribly time-wasting drafting systems about. Even without automation, manual twin drafting gates right at the end of a herringbone pit and operable from the pit are marvellous.
However, with electronic tags mandatory why not use the resource to make work easier? There’s enough to do elsewhere on the farm without doing things that machines can do for you.
Progressively turn your milking operation into the parallel of the smart houses we read about. The technology is here now.
Use a device to open the paddock gate at 5am and spend the extra half hour in bed while the cows wander up to be milked.
One switch should turn on all the equipment, lights where you need them, start the machine, check the vat valve is shut, turn on the chiller and so on.
And, of course, you could begin with the very simple things such as a shelf to keep raddle handy, a hook to hold up the Cambrian, a laminated instruction sheet for making up the spray, rotating back bars so you can throw out those infernal chains, or an easy way to save you bending for the wash hose.
Concentrate on what really matters, your cows, and their well-being, but think of your team too. What would they like? How about an automatic coffee-maker in the farm training/relaxing/office room? Then, after bringing in the first mob, Charlie could push the button and get a cappuccino, flat white, or latte. A couple of chairs would be nice when going over the week’s programme or, even more exciting, discussing the new ‘wonderful’ labour-saving idea that Lisa came up with and how it can be made even better.
There are dozens of ways to make improvements on most farms and the people who know the priorities best are the people doing the work. So sit around the coffee machine, engage them to help sort the fixes and the priorities, maybe even offer a reward for ideas. Make it a community effort. Put some fun in to the process by using Willie’s way or Madge’s method of cupping.
Some could be winning ideas such as we see at Mystery Creek Fieldays or in last year’s DairyNZ competition aiming to spread the word so all farmers benefit.
For more information go to www.dairynz.co.nz/milking/
