Reduce Time in Yard

Description

Cows deposit about 7% of their body weight in faeces and urine on the yard each day. Look at strategies to reduce the time they spend waiting on the yard such as:

• bringing the cows to dairy in small batches,
• don’t fetch the cows – milk them as they arrive for milking – only collecting the stragglers,
• improving cow flow into the dairy,
• reducing milking times using maximum milk out times, or
• implementing once-a-day milking (not for higher yielding cows).

Tips on Getting the Best Result

Work out your current cows per hour throughput CowTime Milking Monitor and see if there is scope to improve. Tailor mob sizes to throughput if splitting the herd. Maximum Milk Out Times can be used to reduce batch times.

Pros and Cons

Requires little change to infrastructure (unless separating mobs or building a stand-off area) and may get improved production.

Will increase labour and complexity of management. Stand-off areas need drainage and effluent management to limit environmental impacts. 

Issues in Making it Happen

Labour

Will increase labour for fetching (best if have a spare person) but reduces cleaning time.

Animal Health

Nil - may help this.

Milk quality

Stand-off areas need good drainage to avoid dirty teats and udders.

Environment

Stand-off areas need effluent management.