Survey of milking equipment and milking management practices on Irish dairy farm
Alice Walsh, Pablo Silva Bolona and John Upton tell us how recent expansion of dairy herd size has posed challenges with regard to milking times, milking technique and mastitis control strategies.
There is a gap in knowledge with regard to the level of proliferation of parlour technologies within Irish dairy herds and how these technologies impact milk SCC. This research looks at various farm management strategies and milking equipment technologies on independent Irish dairy farms that may be of importance in influencing bulk tank SCC.
Materials and methods
An online survey was distributed by 15 milk processors to all of their suppliers in June 2022. Its purpose was to assess milking management practices, dry period management practices and parlour facilities in Irish dairy herds. The survey comprised 66 questions and was divided into five sections; general contact information, farm-, parlour-, and cowspecific management questions and farmer-specific questions.
Results
Survey respondents (474 in total) were geographically distributed across the 4 provinces of the Republic of Ireland, with a total of 24 out of 26 counties represented. Of these, 269 respondents were from Munster, 39 from Connaught, 137 from Leinster and 29 from Ulster. Twenty two per cent of herds were managed as part of a partnership.
Farm-specific information
The most prevalent parlour types amongst respondents were swing-over herringbones (59%) and herringbones with recording jars (21%). Most respondents milked twice per day (94%). Rotaries and automatic milking system (AMS) parlours accounted for 3% and 2.5% of survey respondent parlours, respectively.
Parlour-specific information
In terms of servicing, 68% respondents had their parlour serviced once per year, 16% had it serviced twice per year, 4% serviced more than twice per year and 7% serviced less than once per year. Liner changes occurred most commonly once (34%) or twice (44%) per year. Cluster disinfection occurred in 32% of herds. Of these, 12% used an automated system of cluster disinfection whilst 20% conducted manual disinfection.
Cow-specific information
Clots identified in the milk filter were an indication for foremilking on 47% of respondent farms, as were freshly calved cows (40%), clinical mastitis cases (36%) or increases in bulk tank SCC (31%). Seven percent of respondents reported that they never conducted foremilking. In terms of pre-milking preparation, 27% of respondents did not report doing any udder preparation at all. For those that did, a dry wipe was most commonly carried out (31%). Pre-spraying was implemented on 16% of farms and pre-dipping on 6% of farms. Post-milking teat disinfection most commonly involved spraying with a disinfectant solution, with 74% of farms using this method. Post-milking dipping occurred on 5% of farms and automatic in-cluster dipping on <1% of farms. No post-milking teat disinfection occurred on 15% of farms.
Conclusion
A detailed survey on the prevalence of milking technology and milking management practices showed that the most prevalent parlour types were swing-over herringbones and herringbones with recording jars. The most common milking equipment technological add-ons for herringbones and rotaries were in-parlour feeders, automatic washers on the bulk tank and automatic cluster removers. These data will be used in subsequent analysis to investigate associations between milking technology and bulk tank SCC.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Animal Health Ireland (AHI) and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) for their contributions towards the survey.