Once-Daily Milking of Dairy Cows : An Appraisal
S.R. Davis, V.C. Farr and K. Stelwagen
Dairy Science Group, AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre,
Private Bag 3123,Hamilton
E-Mail:
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1998,
58: 36-40
Once-daily milking offers the opportunity for a quantum change
in the operation of the dairy farm. In particular, once-daily milking
provides the major opportunity to reduce costs and increase labour
productivity. New Zealand cows (particularly Jerseys) already possess an
advantage in favour of once daily milking -that they produce a
relatively concentrated milk and therefore have the capacity to
accumulate >24 hours-worth of milk production. Nevertheless, short-term
trials indicate an average production loss of 21% for once-daily
relative to twice-daily milking. Full-lactation trials suggest greater
losses of 35-50%, although the productivity of commercial farms milking
once-daily throughout lactation is consistent with much smaller losses.
There is evidence that cows can adapt to longer milking intervals and
this coupled with increased herd size and care to maximise milk removal
may restrict yield losses on the farm to less than 10%. Apart from the
production loss, other negative consequences of once-daily milking
include changes in milk composition, a reduction in milk processing
quality and increased somatic cell count. Further, it is not known to
what degree, if any, cow comfort is compromised by once-daily milking.
If it becomes possible to identify more tolerant breeds or individuals,
it may be feasible to reduce milk yield losses still further and
ameliorate the changes in milk composition.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
milking; milking frequency; dairy cows; milk quality.
Last Updated 12-09-1998
