Advice on flexible milking as a management tool

Building flexibility into milking frequency could boost production, alleviate staff shortages, or create a better work-life balance at certain times of the year.

There is scope for farm owners to think differently about how and when cows are milked, says consultant Ian Ohnstad of The Dairy Group.

That could mean increasing milking frequency to kick-start production in high-yielding herds, or reducing the number of milkings at the end of lactation to reduce staff pressures in block calving businesses.

See also: How 4 once-a-day milking options affect profitability

Some example approaches include:

Four-times-a-day milking

Some US farms choose to milk cows four times a day for the first 60 to 80 days of lactation, to lift the lactation curve before moving to three times a day.

This may be applicable in UK herds where cows are kept in smaller groups and milked through high-performance parlours.

Ian estimates a potential 2-3% yield increase by adopting this approach.

Ultimately, the logistics of adopting a fourth milking becomes the main barrier when trying to ensure cows are never away from feed, water and cubicles for more than 60 minutes, he says.

Three-times-a-day milking

High yielders can be milked three times a day until they reach peak yield, before reverting to twice a day (TAD).

For example, this could mean milking at 4am, 12 noon and 8pm; low yielders would skip the evening milking. Ian says this reduces the duration and cost of the third milking, but the downside is that stale cows have longer milking intervals, which could lead to milk leakage and udder health issues.

“The danger of dipping in and out of increased milking frequency is having [enough] labour,” he says, adding that when moving up to three-times-a-day milking, the automatic cluster remover (ACR) low-flow limit should be increased to restrict the total time a day when cows are in low flow (less than 1kg/min).

© Adobe Stock

Once-a-day milking

Once-a-day milking (OAD) could be used as “an emergency measure” to cope with extreme drought, heat stress or forage shortages, or as a way of alleviating pressure on labour at busy times by reducing the number of milkings needed.

Ian says dropping to OAD could limit loss of body condition and protect production and fertility.

However, once milk production has dropped, it may be difficult to “switch those cows back on again” when returning to TAD.

Teagasc in Ireland assessed the effects of short-term OAD to reduce workload and labour demand in the first four, six or eight weeks of spring block-calving, before returning to TAD milking. Early lactation OAD resulted in:

• An initial 22-24% lower milk yield
• 20-23% less milk solids yield
• Immediate production increase when cows returned to TAD
• No difference in total lactation milk solids
• No difference in cell counts.

10 milkings in seven days

Milking 10 times in seven days (10 in seven) is common practice in New Zealand as a way of reducing labour pressures, as well as electricity, water and staffing costs.

The practice offers flexibility for block calving herds, with a lower yield penalty than OAD.

To mitigate production losses, Ian says it is worth adopting 10 in seven just at the end of lactation.

“If it has a role, it would be in tight block-calving herds as the whole herd moves to mid- to late-lactation together,” he explains.

Researchers at Teagasc Moorepark compared TAD milking with full-time 10 in seven; and milking TAD for the first 20 weeks of lactation (in a spring herd) before switching to 10 in seven.

Results compared with TAD showed:

• A 12% reduction in milk yield and 12-13% drop in milk solids when milking 10 in seven for the full lactation
• A 2% reduction in milk yield when switching to 10 in seven after 20 weeks, but little difference in milk solids yield
• Milk production on full-time 10 in seven milking fell half-way between TAD milking and full-time OAD milking.

Whatever the approach, Ian emphasises the importance of doing a partial budget before making any changes to assess the impact of any reduction – or increase – in milk yield and constituents against costs, including labour, cleaning and electricity use.

“All options are interesting, but the key is to budget and look at the implications on what you may gain – and also what you might lose,” he stresses.

Milking 10 times in seven days for the second half of lactation has improved staff social time and built flexibility into herd management at Cairnhead Farm, Carlisle.

This is the third season farm manager Keith Williamson has swapped from twice a day (TAD) milking to 10 in seven.

It was initially adopted as a means of balancing staff time off with finding relief milkers – particularly at weekends.

“It’s fine [staff] wanting every other weekend off, but you need to find people to cover them and we’re not in the best location for relief,” he says.

In the first year, moving to one late morning milking a day on weekends was attractive to their relief milker, but when he retired, the farm team were keen to keep the practice going.

Keith Williamson © Penny Williamson

As winter housing proves the most labour-intensive period for the spring block calving herd, milking once a day (OAD), four days a week meant the team had four clear afternoons for a social life (see “Example of 10-in-seven milking at Cairnhead Farm”).

The exact time the herd moves to 10-in-seven varies depending on the season, although Keith says the key is to not move them too early in lactation to prevent too much of a yield drop.

The herd changed in mid-November in the first year, and 1 October in the second year to coincide with the last grazing round.

Keith says this helped avoid crossing roads at 4am in the dark.

“It’s made our grazing more flexible: on my grazing plan I can alter it so cows are crossing roads in the daylight,” he explains.

Last year, 10 in seven started in mid-August as a way of reducing traffic and protecting ground from poaching during wet weather.

Keith adds: “Flexibility is the best word to describe it – more flexibility in managing the cows, the grazing, and the labour.”

Crucially, Keith says it also had no negative impact on milk income.

In fact, each time they’ve moved from TAD to 10 in seven, milk fat has increased by an average 0.4% and milk protein by 0.3%, equating to a 3p/litre uplift.

This means that, despite production dropping an average 1.3 litres a cow a day, the value of milk sold has stayed similar at £8.83 a cow a day, versus £8.69 on TAD.

However, Keith believes the yield drop from adopting the regime across the entire lactation would not make it cost-effective.

To get the balance between yield, milk quality and work-life balance he may add another milking at the weekend, moving to 11 milkings in seven days from August 2025, followed by 10 in seven when cows are housed.

This may reduce the production dip from having two consecutive OAD milkings at the weekend.

Nonetheless, Keith thinks 10 in seven at the end of lactation is better than OAD, as he found the latter dramatically reduced yields while increasing cell counts and mastitis incidence.

10 in seven has had no impact on udder health, with the herd averaging 130,000 cells/ml somatic cell count and 20 cases of mastitis in 100 cows.

With some paddocks 1.4km away, he says less walking has benefited foot health. Cows tend to carry about 0.5 extra body condition score, translating into fewer calving issues.

“We can’t really find any downfalls to it: we’re not financially worse off. I don’t understand why all spring calvers wouldn’t do it,” he says.