For large dairy farms, harvesting high-quality milk as quickly and efficiently as possible is more important than ever. Rotary parlors have become a popular option due to the efficiency of their continuous flow.
Your farm’s management strategies are the first point to consider when evaluating milking procedures in rotary parlors. Milking more cows with moderate production versus milking fewer cows with higher production are two different management methods that can be successful, depending on the economics of an individual farm’s enterprise.
There are several key factors for you to be aware of when making decisions about the milk procedures on your dairy:
Milking routine
The tried-and-true steps for milking cows are as follows: pre-dip, fore strip, wipe, attach and adjust the milking unit, reattach if necessary and then post-dip. Biology dictates that to achieve the maximum oxytocin response for maximum milk let down, 60-90 seconds is needed between first touch on the teat to unit attachment. If there is concern for lack of available milking time, cows may be attached before the 60-90 seconds. This can result in bimodal milk flow and longer milking durations. When discussing excellent milking procedures, identifying the amount and type of tactile stimulation needed to maximize milk flow is imperative.
Milking incidents
Poor stimulation can also negatively affect the number of milking incidents (such as kick-offs, forced unit detachments and second laps) per milking session. The bimodality of the milk flow results in a rise of vacuum in the claw or on teat ends, which can cause discomfort and lead to more kick-offs. Increased kick-offs lead to more reattached units, meaning there is a risk of exceeding the maximum amount of time the cow has to milk out during the rotation.
Second rotation cows
In all scenarios, reattached units are less than ideal. If a farm’s management style is to milk less cows with higher yield per animal, then a cow would most likely become a second lap cow to ensure that her total yield is harvested despite the kick-off. Second lap cows take up a stall in a second rotation, lowering throughput and therefore efficiency if there are many of them. If a farm’s management style is to milk more animals with moderate production, then it’s likely that the cow with a kick-off and late reattachment will exit the deck with milk left in her udder, which can lead to both decreased production and increased somatic cell count over time.
Managing labor
Although milking cows on a rotary has many advantages, it’s important to realize that it can be challenging for employees to work on a rotary due to the repetitive nature of their tasks. A great way for an operation to minimize worker fatigue is to have employees rotate positions every so often to change the nature of the task they must do for every single cow. A good strategy for rotaries turning faster than 5 seconds per stall is to allocate two employees to attach simultaneously, giving them more time to complete the task and reducing their amount of physical stress. Having a roamer position on a rotary can also add value in several ways. Depending on the management style of the farm and ability to source employees, anywhere from four to seven employees will milk cows per milking shift.
Adding automation
Farms that struggle with the availability of a steady labor force could potentially replace one or more full-time employees with teat spraying robots because of their consistency and accuracy. Pre-dip and post-dip robots are the most common, and depending on the rotary speed, two of each may be needed. It’s important to consider how much milking time will be removed due to the location of the robots and safety cages.
Farms that milk cows on a rotary should choose their milking procedures based upon their individual goals for cow throughput, rotary speed, milk flow goals and labor availability. Any cow can be milked in a rotary parlor, but how they are milked specifically factors into the overall success and profitability of the farm.
To learn more about defining the right milk procedures for your dairy operation, fill out the below form.
