Consistently high milk prices have allowed some farmers to be complacent on their pursuit of milk quality premiums. The question is, will they be ready when the price drops? The perception is that producing premium milk costs more money. In some cases, it may cost extra, but the benefits absolutely out way the expense. If you are going through the motions and taking the time to feed, house and milk your cows, why not take the time to make the most of your milk? Producing quality milk is no secret, clean healthy cows make better milk.
Clean cows make clean milk. Keeping animals clean can be a challenge. Cleanliness starts with bedding cows with quality materials and managing it well. Farms use a variety of things like sand and sawdust to bed cows. What you use is not as important as how well you manage it. Keeping cows properly positioned in stalls and keeping the alleys scraped are as important for keeping bed areas clean and dry. Stall management can make a difference for routes of entry and transfer of bacteria and disease.
Have a system in place for your milking. Set up processes for milking, dipping, and cleaning cows. Explain these systems to your employees and why they are essential. Consistency is important; don’t change your routine because you are changing groups. Take the clock out of the parlor, there should be no rushing in milking. Spend the money on good teat dips, gloves and towels. Change your equipment out on a regular schedule whether you think it needs it or not. Don’t take the chance that you are transferring problems from cow to cow.
Keep track of cows you treat. DHI testing can be a valuable tool to finding issues early. If a cow has a reoccurring problem it may be time to ship it out. Try to catch cows early on and treat them. Milk your problem cows last to avoid cross contamination.
Properly monitor, manage and motivate your team. If they don’t know what to do they won’t do it right. Communicate its importance effectively. Make sure they understand. You have to get buy in from your employees. If they don’t see the value they won’t do it. Follow up with spot checks. Monitoring can be as simple as walking through as they are milking, having a conversation and reminding them if they are doing something wrong. Hire good employees, manage them well and reward them. Even simple rewards can go a long way to improved quality. Cow management is easy, people management is the hard part, especially with family members.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The key is cutting problems out of the system before they start. Fewer problems mean more time to deal with other management decisions. Use some of the profits that you are seeing now to improve your milk quality for when times are lean.
For more information or questions contact Rensselaer County farm business educator Kirk Shoen at kjs264@cornell.edu
