Once a day milking

grazeaway

With all the talk of dairy being the only show in farmign these days (again). I was thinking maybe getting back into it after 2015 but i'm gonna wait for things to settle down 1st. With margins in sucklers getting tighter i was thinking it might be an idea to go back to milking as this may provide the best return ina few years. want to stay farming but dont have the experince for buying and selling cattle. at the rate sucklers are going they'll struggle to pay for themselves

I'm working full time but i reckon the time i'm spending on the farm is faily simailr to what i would do with milking cows. while it would make no sense to get someone in to milk the cows every day it might make sense for me to do once a day milking. 2 hrs in the morning would be enough for me to get up for milking, shower and change for work leaving the evenings frees for other stuff. I know the yeilds go down but the quailty goes up and the costs offset each other in a well run opertaion. Anyone out there doing it and would there be much of difference for the cows? I'd assume if you bought them in 1st as heifers they would know no difference? would you be looking at breeding from a certain mix or can most cows be apated. By that can i buy heifers from an averge yeilding herd and they will adapt?

We milked about 50 cows up to a few years ago. still have the shed and parlour. Anyway the milking machine and tank were sold a few years go but the shed is still here and in good condition as we still use the holding yard. If i was to get back i would need to spend a bit in capital though. new milking machine, tank and extra slurry storage plus i'd proably have to roof the holding yard.

The capital set-up costs would require soem extra building work;
Refit an 8 unit milking machine
New milk tank and cooler
I have a meal bin but would look to put in auto feeder for the meal
extra slurry storgae for the parlour and yard, none there at present (old store demolished and slatted tank in house too far from holding yard and too small anyway to take everything) so would i be better off putting a concrete tank or maybe putting up a round steel one and pumping into it?
would proably have to put in auto scrapers too for the cubicle houses.

Any thoughts ideas?

bbam

Maybe things have changed.
I know that lots of lads have tried and tried this and it mostly ends in high SCC.
I wouldn't be as in touch with the dairy scene as I once was but I worked with a few lads to try and get this to work. They all gave it up as it was too hard to keep the SSC under control.

Timmaay

Could you milk twice a day for the early months, say feb to june, during peak supply (feb/March you will probably need to be full time with calving anyways). Then switch over to OAD for the rest of the season?

Another alternative is every 16hrs, milk earlier the morning, late that night, then middle of the day the following day! Would probably only be suitable if you self employed or have very flexible work hours!

grazeaway

Timmaay wrote: »

Could you milk twice a day for the early months, say feb to june, during peak supply (feb/March you will probably need to be full time with calving anyways). Then switch over to OAD for the rest of the season?

Another alternative is every 16hrs, milk earlier the morning, late that night, then middle of the day the following day! Would probably only be suitable if you self employed or have very flexible work hours!

i duobt mixing the milking during the year would be good for the cows. from what i have read they get into a routine and are happy with it.

16hr milking might work for full time fellas but not with a 9-5

grazeaway

bbam wrote: »

Maybe things have changed.
I know that lots of lads have tried and tried this and it mostly ends in high SCC.
I wouldn't be as in touch with the dairy scene as I once was but I worked with a few lads to try and get this to work. They all gave it up as it was too hard to keep the SSC under control.

why would the cell count cahneg so much? is it due to the cows being bred for twice a day milking and not being able to adjust?

kowtow

I'd be interested to hear more about this also as we are in a similar enough position.

Grazeaway - have you any concerns about selling the milk from a fresh start? Will you be able to sell to co-op on 'normal' terms?

As we're going to produce cheese primarily it's not such a big concern for us but I'd rather be paid for surplus than throw it all away or feed it.

What are your plans for refurbishing the parlour / milking machines? Have you any pictures of the current layout?

I have an old six unit which we are going to refurbish, complete with steelwork, mechanical feeders and augurs which I hope we can get going for the first years at least. All that is left of the "machinery" a huge cooler - not yet sure if it will work or not or whether it can be connected to a new tank.

grazeaway

kowtow wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear more about this also as we are in a similar enough position.

Grazeaway - have you any concerns about selling the milk from a fresh start? Will you be able to sell to co-op on 'normal' terms?

As we're going to produce cheese primarily it's not such a big concern for us but I'd rather be paid for surplus than throw it all away or feed it.

What are your plans for refurbishing the parlour / milking machines? Have you any pictures of the current layout?

I have an old six unit which we are going to refurbish, complete with steelwork, mechanical feeders and augurs which I hope we can get going for the first years at least. All that is left of the "machinery" a huge cooler - not yet sure if it will work or not or whether it can be connected to a new tank.

my dad supplied to glanbia and has it setup that if any of us kids get back into milking we would be re activate his supply (that might have changed since but i know he is still a shareholder).

The building itself is in good condition as it was built new in the early 80's. The whole machine was sold off years ago. The rail and milking frame is still there but would need to be repaired. No pic's as its used for storage at the moment and full of crap. Its all one building with the parlour on one side of a 3 bay shed and 3 smaller rooms on the other side, feed room and storage, dairy and tank room and another room for storage and office/workshop.

have not put a massive amount of thought into it yet as i'll want to see how feasible it'll be work wise. I know the place can be refurbed easy enough within the confines of the existing building, but i would need to built extra slurry storage and do a bit of work on drafting and in the holding yard.

yellow50HX

what is the difference (if any) in silage and grass consumption? If you need more stock to get the same volume wont you need more grass? or as they need less grass will their consumption be less???

Henwin

I reckon Jersey cows are the best to work with for once a day milking.They dont eat as much grass, dont produce as much milk but they really make up for it in protein and butterfat levels which take you from 32 cent a litre to 40 cent a litre.
start once a day as heifers so they get used to it.
Heard lately that a women sumwhere tried this and she won sum award. it makes since really. you cut way back on ration, less worries with trying to grow grass-holsteins that we have eat and eat so much that we spend loads on feriliser. if i was starting again I tink i wud go that way. what are your opinions.

grazeaway

Henwin wrote: »

I reckon Jersey cows are the best to work with for once a day milking.They dont eat as much grass, dont produce as much milk but they really make up for it in protein and butterfat levels which take you from 32 cent a litre to 40 cent a litre.
start once a day as heifers so they get used to it.
Heard lately that a women sumwhere tried this and she won sum award. it makes since really. you cut way back on ration, less worries with trying to grow grass-holsteins that we have eat and eat so much that we spend loads on feriliser. if i was starting again I tink i wud go that way. what are your opinions.

One thing about the jerseys is that the calves a pretty much worthless when selling them unless they are heifers for milking herds

Timmaay

Ah now grazeaway, the bull calf price is the weakest argument against jerseys! All dairy bull calves are almost worthless, alot of HO bulls were making less than 50quid this year, moving forward post quotas with the expansion of the national dairyherd, the numbers of bull dairycalves will be even greater, so not much hope of a recovery in their price. A 50 cow herd will only require say 13 replacements a year, so 13 bull calves on average, assume a JE bull calf is worthless, and 13 HO bull calves make 50quid, that's 650, utterly nothing when the milk receipts for the year will be something around the 100k mark.

grazeaway

Timmaay wrote: »

Ah now grazeaway, the bull calf price is the weakest argument against jerseys! All dairy bull calves are almost worthless, alot of HO bulls were making less than 50quid this year, moving forward post quotas with the expansion of the national dairyherd, the numbers of bull dairycalves will be even greater, so not much hope of a recovery in their price. A 50 cow herd will only require say 13 replacements a year, so 13 bull calves on average, assume a JE bull calf is worthless, and 13 HO bull calves make 50quid, that's 650, utterly nothing when the milk receipts for the year will be something around the 100k mark.

Yipp, my uncle brought oe in the mart a few years ago for a fiver, kept him for a bout 2 years and off to the factory. Didn't grade massively but did ok

mahoney_j

The sister has just got married to a guy and his dad switched from twice a day to once a day a few years back and he is doing it using all high yielding holstein bulls which are milked once daily from calving .He swears by them and said he had to cull out most of the british freisan ainmals due to poor production from mid july to end of lactation.He feeds about 5 to 600 kg of ration and mostly grass and produce about 1100 gallons at 4.2 fat and 3.54 protrin

Damo810

mahoney_j wrote: »

The sister has just got married to a guy and his dad switched from twice a day to once a day a few years back and he is doing it using all high yielding holstein bulls which are milked once daily from calving .He swears by them and said he had to cull out most of the british freisan ainmals due to poor production from mid july to end of lactation.He feeds about 5 to 600 kg of ration and mostly grass and produce about 1100 gallons at 4.2 fat and 3.54 protrin

Milking Holstein bulls? I hope he's not drinking the "milk"

grazeaway

Damo810 wrote: »

Milking Holstein bulls? I hope he's not drinking the "milk"

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mUtSazFb5qM

grazeaway

mahoney_j wrote: »

The sister has just got married to a guy and his dad switched from twice a day to once a day a few years back and he is doing it using all high yielding holstein bulls which are milked once daily from calving .He swears by them and said he had to cull out most of the british freisan ainmals due to poor production from mid july to end of lactation.He feeds about 5 to 600 kg of ration and mostly grass and produce about 1100 gallons at 4.2 fat and 3.54 protrin

How many cows?

bbam

mahoney_j wrote: »

The sister has just got married to a guy and his dad switched from twice a day to once a day a few years back and he is doing it using all high yielding holstein bulls which are milked once daily from calving .He swears by them and said he had to cull out most of the british freisan ainmals due to poor production from mid july to end of lactation.He feeds about 5 to 600 kg of ration and mostly grass and produce about 1100 gallons at 4.2 fat and 3.54 protrin

Damo810 wrote: »

Milking Holstein bulls? I hope he's not drinking the "milk"

Big savings on liners too.. Just one rather than using four like on the cows..

Henwin

anyone else got jersey cows? how do you find them compared to friesians. do they eat less or is tat my imagination, wat bout lameness, cell count etc. my dad has just 1 friesan yearling tis year, i was advising him to put her in calf to a jersey but he wud rather a holstein.

Farmer Pudsey

Timmaay wrote: »

Ah now grazeaway, the bull calf price is the weakest argument against jerseys! All dairy bull calves are almost worthless, alot of HO bulls were making less than 50quid this year, moving forward post quotas with the expansion of the national dairyherd, the numbers of bull dairycalves will be even greater, so not much hope of a recovery in their price. A 50 cow herd will only require say 13 replacements a year, so 13 bull calves on average, assume a JE bull calf is worthless, and 13 HO bull calves make 50quid, that's 650, utterly nothing when the milk receipts for the year will be something around the 100k mark.

That will leave 24+ cows for a terminal beef sire as 13 are heifers they will be AA/LM more than likly what will be used on the other cows HE LM other contenintal bull. If the dairy herd expands will surplass calves even from a beef breed drop in value as well.

mahoney_j

bbam wrote: »

Big savings on liners too.. Just one rather than using four like on the cows..

Right funny bunch now aren't ye!!!!

pms7

yellow50HX wrote: »

what is the difference (if any) in silage and grass consumption? If you need more stock to get the same volume wont you need more grass? or as they need less grass will their consumption be less???

No great difference.

Cell count is an issue. Friend of mine at it few years, had big mast problem last year. Need to go all out in parlour with hygiene, cluster dipping, etc..

royalmeath

One big problem I woulld see with once a day is getting cows on heat. You will catch a lot of cows on heat in morning but if your away all
day working you might not see the cows coming on and you could miss alot of heats. You could buy a heat detection device or just run a bull
with the cows which presents health and safety issues for yourself.

delaval

royalmeath wrote: »

One big problem I woulld see with once a day is getting cows on heat. You will catch a lot of cows on heat in morning but if your away all
day working you might not see the cows coming on and you could miss alot of heats. You could buy a heat detection device or just run a bull
with the cows which presents health and safety issues for yourself.

Tail paint. We milk twice a day and rely on paint alone only draft at morning milking.
Guy in my group in his third year scc a prob initially but stabilised. Ho's much more suitable. I would not do with Jex they would be inclined to go stake quickly. Fertility problems a thing of the past with no pressure on cows.
I know a few guys who milk their heifers OAD till the breeding season is over.
We would milk lame and lower Bcs cows OAD till they walking well or put on weight.

keep going

Pulled this up on 2 levells.would it not make sense for someone who is fulltime suckling to transfer to dairy and milk once aday, not that much extra work really when you think about it and much higher returns.secondly looks like I try it for the whole year next year.better do it next and hold numbers rather trying to cut production in the spring 2015.would probably have more cows in calf and calving earlier as well spring 12 months

6480

if u sent up the right parlour and yard an hour in the evening and morning would get you out and still kept the job , you stil have to put an input to the cows yourself ,probably a pitty you got out of dairying the first place

Timmaay

6480 wrote: »

if u sent up the right parlour and yard an hour in the evening and morning would get you out and still kept the job , you stil have to put an input to the cows yourself ,probably a pitty you got out of dairying the first place

Even more importantly, have a good compact calving, with a low maintenance cows, offload lame/cull cows quick, you'll save time and hassle with fetching/treating these cows.

Having said that, I personally would not take on more than 4days off farm job, otherwise you will be an utter slave to work,doing odd jobs on the farm all day sat/sun. Then of course you will need more time off in feb/March for cavling.

keep going

Did that working and milking for years and would say its ok to do it as means to an end but not a long term solution.

Mulumpy

keep going wrote: »

Did that working and milking for years and would say its ok to do it as means to an end but not a long term solution.

Its hard going alright. Luckily ive a flexible job and super part time lad who does one of the milkings when im gone. Can't see myself doing both for more than another five years.

td5man

keep going wrote: »

Did that working and milking for years and would say its ok to do it as means to an end but not a long term solution.

Everything needs to be going right to be able to work off farm and milk.
Did it here for 20 years and i wasnt in a 9-5 job some weeks it was 7 days.
Thimgs start to suffer small things at first but then they snowball.
Ive been at home full time for the last 3 years and i still havent things back on track yet.

einn32

I've only recently took up full time farming but the father milked once a day for the last two years. He was able to get a lot of work done around the farm as the evenings were free. Take time off too. Milk solids were good throughout the year whilst yields were lower. Less costs electricity etc. However SCC was a huge issue. Harder to control grass too. You also start to lose the ability to see your cows twice a day and pick up on health issues etc. Once a day he didn't see them until the next morning again. Back milking twice a day this year so will be interesting to compare. I think you need a very good herd and good facilities, good land to balance a job and milk. However something has to suffer in my opinion.

bbam

einn32 wrote: »

I've only recently took up full time farming but the father milked once a day for the last two years. He was able to get a lot of work done around the farm as the evenings were free. Take time off too. Milk solids were good throughout the year whilst yields were lower. Less costs electricity etc. However SCC was a huge issue. Harder to control grass too. You also start to lose the ability to see your cows twice a day and pick up on health issues etc. Once a day he didn't see them until the next morning again. Back milking twice a day this year so will be interesting to compare. I think you need a very good herd and good facilities, good land to balance a job and milk. However something has to suffer in my opinion.

When I was working for Alfa many years ago I worked with quite a few lads that tried OAD... SCC was a serious problem for them all.
Now, all these lads were trying to convert high yielding BF or HO or crosses of both to OAD which I always wondered about. Essentially these breeds have been bred over the years with twice or three times a day in mind...

Maybe some research into different breeds would produce the answer.