Epi. 258 – Managing Milk Quality in a High Throughput Parlor

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP Honor Roll member Dr. David Reid, a graduate of Kansas State University, who has dedicated his career to milk quality consulting on dairy farms. The dairy industry has experienced significant contraction over the past 30 years with a similar number of cows in the national cattle herd on a smaller number of farms. This means that we have larger dairies and farms need to get a larger number of cows milked in the allotted amount of time without sacrificing milk quality.

Reid states that general goals are five-and-a-half parlor turns per hour in side-by-side parlors and depending on the size of the rotary, seven to nine turns per hour. Two factors that influence throughput is the size of the parlor and the amount of labor the farm employees for milking. He states that the most important factor in improving throughput is getting cows to be a willing participant in the milking process and practicing good stockmanship by moving cows in a calm manner. This also results in cows moving slower, so they have less manure splash and are calm when they start the milking process. Reid suggests that veterinarians walk the path that cows walk from the home pen to the parlor to make sure there are not areas that are dirty or create issues for cow handling. Frequency of fresh bedding application is a critical question for veterinarians to review with producers to improve cow cleanliness.

Reid also discusses making sure that the milking routine is consistent from milking-to-milking and milking technician-to-technician. Forestripping every cow at every milking is a critical step that not only allows for detection of abnormal milk but improves milk letdown, milk flow rates and decreases unit on-time which is important for maximizing throughput. We also discuss some of the features in parlor that allow for the machine to strip the cow, but Reid cautions that this does not detect abnormal milk. Other tips Reid suggests for improving throughput are starting to prep the first cow as soon as she enters the first stall, shield field-of-vision areas where cows enter the parlor so they only see the cow ahead of them, and proper use of the crowd gate to train cows to the audible noise, then backing off. 

Veterinarians play a critical role in monitoring milk quality and parlor throughput on their client’s farms. This includes monitoring milk per shift, turns per hour, walking the cow path to detect any issues, and visually inspecting milk filters. 

To find milk quality resources on the AABP website, visit this page and select the Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee. If you are interested in joining the Milk Quality and Udder Health Committee, contact Dr. Fred Gingrich at fred@aabp.org.