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Once a day milking

andybob

Well-known member
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/115869/once-a-day-milking-shows-returns.html

While this is a dairy article, it does remind us that profitability may depend on thinking way outside the conventional box.
 

I Luv Herfrds

Well-known member
There is a dairy here in the U.S. that milks once a day a herd of Jersey cows. I found them researching the Jersey breed.
A rather interesting web site. Sorry I don't remember who or where they are, it was a few years ago.
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
MsSage said:
Wonder how that would work on a milking herd of 2000?

Every 16 hours is not "once a day" in the literal sense. When I milked I would have had to quit feeding almost completely in order to go that long. Cows were already sprewing milk anyway when they came into the barn. I guess once the adjust to it the idea would work but I have lots of questions. Wonder what SSC did?? His production was poor to begin with an is terrible after the switch. Can't see him making any money.

Ms. Sage it would be nice to run 2000 thru "once a day" but what would we do the rest of the time?? lolol
 

MsSage

Well-known member
TexasBred said:
MsSage said:
Wonder how that would work on a milking herd of 2000?

Every 16 hours is not "once a day" in the literal sense. When I milked I would have had to quit feeding almost completely in order to go that long. Cows were already sprewing milk anyway when they came into the barn. I guess once the adjust to it the idea would work but I have lots of questions. Wonder what SSC did?? His production was poor to begin with an is terrible after the switch. Can't see him making any money.

Ms. Sage it would be nice to run 2000 thru "once a day" but what would we do the rest of the time?? lolol
hmm how about getting everything done we never have time to finish ...how about 1/4 day off? How about catching up on paperwork? How about 1/4 day off? Did I mention 1/4 day off? LOL
 

andybob

Well-known member
Texasbred, the 16 hourly milking was a first step, which convinced him that once a day milking would work, after researching the results from other dairies which have already converted to once a day, and are making a profit with a lower yield due to lower costs and higher milk solids.
 

burnt

Well-known member
A nearby 450 head dairy for whom our youngest son is milking recently went to 3x a day. It sure makes for a headache scheduling the people who do the milking so I hope the rise in production makes it worthwhile.

But 1x seems to be the other extreme. It's sure not natural.
 

Denny

Well-known member
Good thing they don't milk my beef cow's they would jump the fence just to get in the parlor.When we hauled them to grass one followed the truck 3 miles back to the farm to get her calf.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
I didn're read the article yet, but the thought behind 1x milking is getting the same amount of solids. You will not produce as many pounds of milk.

When intramammary cells build up pressure over a certain level, those cells will stop secreting for that lactation. That is why you are seeing 3x and sometimes 4x, you're reducing that pressure and allow more to be produced.

If you switch to 1x, some of those cells are going to shut down for the lactation, they aren't going to be any more uncomfortable after that happens, the question is solids content. If you're making artisan cheese and you can get the same solids content, it's a no-brainer.

16 hrs doesn't seem like a good idea, 12 hrs would allow the same time every day, which is a good thing.

These are the ideas we need to look at, we don't need to be dumping all this time, money and inputs to make a cow produce more water. Both Kit Pharo and Ranching For Profit advocate knowing the difference between production and profit.
 

MsSage

Well-known member
One of our barns is 4x the other 2 are 2x.
With the climate in the dairy industry the more you can produce the better. Too many are going belly up. All of our milk goes to Hilmar Cheese which most dont know is also Sargentos :wink:
 

Mike

Well-known member
My Dad just had to try the idea of milking 3X per day once.

We did get more milk but the extra labor was not worth it.

Lasted about 6 months, then back to 2X per day.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
Does Hilmar have a plant in Texas? Our college dairy cattle club did a trip out to California to tour the big dairies, we went to some of the farms that started Hilmar then of course to the Hilmar plant. I wasn't aware they sell under the Sargento brand. They did tell us that they sold to a majority of the fast food restaurants.
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
MsSage said:
TexasBred said:
MsSage said:
Wonder how that would work on a milking herd of 2000?

Every 16 hours is not "once a day" in the literal sense. When I milked I would have had to quit feeding almost completely in order to go that long. Cows were already sprewing milk anyway when they came into the barn. I guess once the adjust to it the idea would work but I have lots of questions. Wonder what SSC did?? His production was poor to begin with an is terrible after the switch. Can't see him making any money.

Ms. Sage it would be nice to run 2000 thru "once a day" but what would we do the rest of the time?? lolol
hmm how about getting everything done we never have time to finish ...how about 1/4 day off? How about catching up on paperwork? How about 1/4 day off? Did I mention 1/4 day off? LOL

MsSage....that "1/4 day" would probably be spend 45 minutes per day, never all at one time. :wink:
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Ben H said:
I didn're read the article yet, but the thought behind 1x milking is getting the same amount of solids. You will not produce as many pounds of milk.

When intramammary cells build up pressure over a certain level, those cells will stop secreting for that lactation. That is why you are seeing 3x and sometimes 4x, you're reducing that pressure and allow more to be produced.

If you switch to 1x, some of those cells are going to shut down for the lactation, they aren't going to be any more uncomfortable after that happens, the question is solids content. If you're making artisan cheese and you can get the same solids content, it's a no-brainer.

16 hrs doesn't seem like a good idea, 12 hrs would allow the same time every day, which is a good thing.

These are the ideas we need to look at, we don't need to be dumping all this time, money and inputs to make a cow produce more water. Both Kit Pharo and Ranching For Profit advocate knowing the difference between production and profit.

That was the reason for my questions. We milked 3x per day. SSC dropped considerably due to reduced pressure on the udder and more complete milkouts. Also about 22% more milk. Have heard of 4x milking but never did it. As for solids, those can be influenced some thru feeding but often not worth the added cost. You don't produce "more water", just more diluted solids although BF will sometimes go up late in lactation. Every dairy operation has a point of diminishing return...you just have to find yours. MsSage apparently has a very large operation. We found that between 400-450 cows milking at any given time was the most profitable and simply bred for high producing cattle.
 

Wadgerfluffy

New member
andybob said:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/06/01/115869/once-a-day-milking-shows-returns.html

While this is a dairy article, it does remind us that profitability may depend on thinking way outside the conventional box.

I have milked oad in 2007 and expect to go back to oad in 2010
found it very profitable and great lifestyle,There is a 20%drop in outputbut if you increase the stocking rate by the same amount you have the same output/hectare.you need to milk jerseys or jersey x holstein if there is any tendency towards beef the cows will put on fat instead of milking. some french farmers getting 9000l on oad holsteins. How is the price of milk in the usa? 20c/litre in ireland
Very good research in New Zealand(Dexcel website)
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Milk is sold here by the hundred-weight...right now price will vary from around $10 per hundred to as much as $12.50 depending on the components in the milk. Guess that would be about $.86 per gallon up to around $1.08 per gallon.

20% drop by milking only once per day? That doesn't sound reasonable possible. How much do you cut your daily feed ration to accomodate once a day milking? Couldn't be much if milk only drops 20%.
 

Wadgerfluffy

New member
TexasBred said:
Milk is sold here by the hundred-weight...right now price will vary from around $10 per hundred to as much as $12.50 depending on the components in the milk. Guess that would be about $.86 per gallon up to around $1.08 per gallon.

20% drop by milking only once per day? That doesn't sound reasonable possible. How much do you cut your daily feed ration to accomodate once a day milking? Couldn't be much if milk only drops 20%.

Im running a low cost grass based system feeding 100 -120 kilogrammes of cereal based ration/ year, grass only while milking and grass silage while dry. all cows calve betweeen 14/2 and 30/4 all dry from christmas till mid feb. Im paid on kilos of milksolids. jerseys av 380 kg ms/ year. Im expecting 300 kg. ms /cow or 1200kg/hectare (1100lbs/ac.)
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Wadgerfluffy said:
TexasBred said:
Milk is sold here by the hundred-weight...right now price will vary from around $10 per hundred to as much as $12.50 depending on the components in the milk. Guess that would be about $.86 per gallon up to around $1.08 per gallon.

20% drop by milking only once per day? That doesn't sound reasonable possible. How much do you cut your daily feed ration to accomodate once a day milking? Couldn't be much if milk only drops 20%.

Im running a low cost grass based system feeding 100 -120 kilogrammes of cereal based ration/ year, grass only while milking and grass silage while dry. all cows calve betweeen 14/2 and 30/4 all dry from christmas till mid feb. Im paid on kilos of milksolids. jerseys av 380 kg ms/ year. Im expecting 300 kg. ms /cow or 1200kg/hectare (1100lbs/ac.)

Wow....120 kg cereal based ration "per year"??? I use to feed that much to a cow in a week. But I had many cattle milking over 100 lbs. per day (45 kgs????)...We were paid on milk volume plus bonus' for butterfat, protein, other solids, above the norm as well as premiums for SSC below norm.
 

Wadgerfluffy

New member
peak yield would be 48lbs ( 22kg.) at 4.3% butterfat and 3.75% protein, penaties apply for somatic cell over 400000 but these are limits are reducing to 200000 from 2010. We are paid on kg. of fat and pr. supplied with pr. being twice as valuable as butterfat.200 cows averaging 36lbs milk at 4.52 fat and 3.73 pr.today
 
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