Dairy Focus Blog
Budgets & compromises
Tough conditions in the dairy industry have seen every farm closely scrutinising costs in an effort to allocate available funds to the most cost effective options in virtually every area of their operation.
The cost of treatment at drying-off is one of the areas under examination and we have been having some interesting discussions with farms about the best option with the least amount of compromise for each individual farm.
To have those discussions, it is good to reflect on what you are trying to achieve at dry-off, both for the individual cow and for the herd.
When milking became a warzone!
Paul* had made some small but significant changes to both his milking equipment and milking routine after our initial visit had exposed some mastitis risks that he had been unaware of.
A change to a different liner, a small change to system vacuum and a change in the milking routine to ensure that teats were disinfected much sooner after cup removal in his 36-a-side herringbone were the key changes that had been made.
Four weeks after he had made those changes, it was time for a re-assessment to ensure that the changes had actually resulted in a reduced risk of mastitis infections.
Is it too hot in the "kitchen"?
Summer is almost here, and there will be some very hot days as well as consistently high temperatures coming, especially in some of our warmer regions.
Unfortunately, heat and sunlight can be an enemy of many products which are used on farms.
One of the more interesting cases is the effect of heat and sunlight on teat disinfectants.
Many of our teat disinfectant products have some quite interesting storage warnings on their labels.
An assumption is just an assumption
We regularly find that our milking time and farm visits are quite illuminating.
Not only do they allow us to demonstrate and reinforce procedures that have been discussed both at training courses and on the farm, they also allow us to see firsthand what is actually happening on the farm and in the dairy.
Sometimes things aren’t what you think they are going to be, and I was reminded of this at a recent milking time visit.
"Just the person I wanted to talk to!"
Coffee and a slice on a Saturday morning is a bit of ritual for us these days, and my coffee had just arrived when John entered the café.
I have never been to John’s farm, but I had met him a few times over the years at various industry seminars and meetings.
“Just the person I wanted to talk to! You’ll be able to tell me what to do”, John announced.
As I stood up to greet John, our chocolate brownie slice arrived at the table and my wife started to cut it in half (there is way too much sugar in a whole brownie!), whilst John’s wife made her way to a vacant table.
“I’ve been using [Product X] for years to treat my mastitis, and it’s not working any more – what should I be using?”
Blocked air admission holes
It started as just a routine machine test by Rob, but it ended up being a whole lot more important!
He quickly discovered a significant number of blocked claw air admission holes, some even took a bit of scraping with a screwdriver to find the air admission hole!
Paper towel holster/dispenser
We saw this great idea for a paper towel holster/dispenser last week.
Paper towels are always at the ready if needed - every teat that gets washed, gets dried!
It is just one of the protocols put in place that are really making a difference on this farm.
Want more hints on washing & drying?
Here's a link for some hints on easy washing & drying - "Wash & Dry" >>>
An unintended consequence
Cameron* was feeling comfortable.
The expansion plan for the family farm had gone well. He had secured a long term lease on the block next door, added another 50 cows (with plans for more), extended the dairy shed, and employed a labour unit to assist the family on the farm.
The new season had started well. It had been a wet spring, but there had been very little clinical mastitis during calving and the spring, and the farm’s Bulk Milk Cell Count (BMCC) had sat comfortably below 150,000 cells/ml all that time.
But as they moved into summer, things started to come unstuck.