Milking plants that average 4 hours running time per day will clock up 1460 working hours in a year. Spending this amount of time doing the same routine can get pretty monotonous and we may not notice subtle changes that can be occurring right before our eyes.

Research into milking machine efficiency has shown a wide variety of faults can result from extended use - wear and age can cause gradual changes in performance, and an increase in the risk of mastitis.

Your machines should be fully tested and documented in line with the current AMMTA milking machine testing procedures at least once per year - and more often if you think something is not right. Extra tests should also be done after any service work or upgrades have been done to the plant.

Milking time testing of your machines takes testing and understanding how your machines impact on your cows, their teats and the risk of mastitis to another level.

A key feature of the Dairy Focus Mastitis Control System is regular milking time testing of the machines in addition to routine "dry" AMMTA testing – and the Dairy Focus Mastitis Diary ensures all testing is done when it should be.