Confidence in the 16:8 milking interval split
Managing a dairy enterprise across two blocks in Co. Laois, Bernard Ging has operated a 16:8 milking interval since the farm’s conversion to milk production in 2012.
Supported by two full-time staff, three relief milkers and students occasionally, Bernard finds that the 16:8 split has brought a start and finish time to the day on the dairy farming business, through which 340 cows are milked.
Depending on proximately to the parlour, morning milking commences at 7:10-7:15am and evening milking starts at 3:30pm. This strategy, Bernard explained, ensures all essential jobs are completed by 5:30-6:00pm each evening – allowing more time for family or other farming tasks.
Milk solids production is typically 520-550kg of solids – depending on the year and grass growing conditions – while an SCC of 132,000 was recorded last year. On this, Bernard said: “We are pretty confident that the 16:8 split is not affecting milk quality or cow production.”
For more on Bernard’s story, watch the video below:
Previous Teagasc research has shown there is a strong relationship between milking interval and the length of the normal working day on dairy farms. The study, completed in 2020, found that the average finish time across the year was 6:43pm, with a large range in evening finish times recorded. Interestingly – and something worth considering when managing workloads and attracting people to work in dairy farming businesses – it showed there is no cost to reducing milking interval to a 16:8 hour interval.