Milking efficiency of swingover herringbone parlours in pasture-based dairy systems.

The objective of this study was to collect and analyse milking data from a sample of commercial farms with swingover herringbone parlours to evaluate milking efficiency over a range of parlour sizes (12-32 milking units). Data were collected from 19 farms around the Republic of Ireland equipped with electronic milk metres and herd management software that recorded data at individual milking sessions. The herd management software on each farm was programmed to record similar data for each milking plant type.

Overmilking causes deterioration in teat-end condition of dairy cows in late lactation.

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of varying degrees of overmilking on teat-end hyperkeratosis, milk production variables and indicators of udder health during late lactation. This was examined by assessing the effect of four end-of-milking criteria on 181 spring-calving, mixed-age Holstein-Friesian cows, at an average 217±24 d in milk, over a six-week period. The four treatments were: remove cluster once milk flow rate fell to 0·2 kg/min plus 5 s (Ovr0), plus 120 s (Ovr2), plus 300 s (Ovr5), and plus 540 s (Ovr9).

Supplementary feeding at milking and minimum milking interval effects on cow traffic and milking performance in a pasture-based automatic milking system.

In extensive pastoral dairy farming systems herds graze 12 months of the year with the majority fed a near-100% pasture or conserved pasture diet. The viability of automatic milking in these systems will depend partly upon the amount of supplementary feed necessary to encourage cows to walk from the pasture to the milking unit but also on the efficient use of the automatic milking system (AMS). This paper describes a study to determine the importance of offering concentrate in the milking unit and the effect of minimum milking interval on cow movement and milking performance in a pasture-based AMS.

The effect of pre-milking teat-brushing on milk processing time in an automated milking system.

Cow throughput in an automatic milking system (AMS) is limited by system parameters such as the time required for pre-milking udder preparation and cup attachment, physiological responses of the cow (such as milk let-down and milking-out rate), milking machine features and cow behaviour. A single-factor cross-over design was used to investigate the effect of pre-milking teat brushing on milk processing time in an AMS operating in an extensive grazing farming system. Teat brushing consisted of two roller brushes tracking up each teat three times (total brushing time of up to 45 s/cow).