As the calving season gets underway on farms across the country, the workload for dairy farmers is greatly increased.
But there are a number of options available to dairy farmers to decrease the heavy workload placed on them at this time of the year – with once-a-day (OAD) milking being one.
OAD milking
For many dairy farms, short-term OAD milking is an option to decrease the workload and or free up time to complete other jobs.
According to Teagasc, a reduction in workload of 30% can be achieved by using OAD milking. This reduction is based on cups-on time only and does not include herding.
OAD milking does have an impact on both milk yields (22-24% reduction) and solids (22-23% reduction) production while being used.
However, this is only when OAD milking is being used; cows return to normal levels of production once they are moved back to twice-a-day (TAD) milking.
It is likely that OAD milking will only be used for the first two or three weeks of lactation when there is a high volume of cows calving.
It is also important to note that there is no notable difference in cell counts in cows compared to those on TAD milking throughout their lactation.
Contractor
Where possible, farmers should make the best use of a contractor during the spring.
Using a contractor for slurry and the first two rounds of chemical fertiliser in particular, can be massively beneficial.
As well as being a significant time saver, it may also mean that a large area can receive slurry earlier in the spring.
It is also important to take note of the changes to the nitrates regulations that have been introduced since January 1, this year.
Under the changes to the regulations many dairy farmers may now be required to spread their slurry using low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment.