Milking interval – time to make the change
With spring calving entering full swing, one of the simplest and most effective changes farmers can make to improve labour efficiency is adopting a 16:8 milking interval.
As part of a recent Dairy Edge podcast, Dr Conor Hogan, People in Dairy Programme Manager, and Martina Gormley, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, joined James Dunne to focus on reducing workload on dairy farms this spring.
For quick wins on labour efficiency, Conor Hogan said: “Organisation is the biggest thing we can change today, this week or next week. Facilities, work practices, processes and technologies all have a major impact too, but they take longer to change.”
As to organising the working day, the structure of the day is critical, and the most efficient dairy farmers follow structured start and finish times.
“When we talk about finish time, evening milking start time has the biggest influence. That’s why we strongly encourage a 16:8 milking interval – eight hours between morning and evening milking. As cows start calving and milking begins again, it’s a great opportunity to make that change,” Conor Hogan added.
Citing previous research she’s undertaken, Martina Gormley said that many dairy farmers start evening milking after 5pm, often out of habit rather than necessity.
“When you dig into the reasons for the later start time, only a small proportion relate to family commitments such as collecting children – which is perfectly acceptable. For the majority, it’s tradition,” she explained. “There is a real opportunity to pull evening milking earlier on many farms.”
She added that earlier milking improves efficiency and organisation throughout the day, adding: “It’s not about putting pressure on yourself earlier in the day; having a hard deadline makes farmers more efficient, and it also makes dairy farming more attractive from a labour point of view, as people can have their evenings free.”
Earlier evening milking, she noted, also creates flexibility: “It gives farmers time to rest, but it also gives them the option to go back out and do other work if they choose. Ultimately, it’s the farmer’s decision how they use that time.”
Some farmers may be slow to move away from traditional milking intervals, but Martina Gormley stressed that milk recording data shows no relationship between an eight-hour milking interval and milk yield per cow per day. Herds milk recording frequently over multiple years, often high-output herds, showed no negative effect from adopting a 16:8 split.
This is an important finding, as long milking intervals are a major driver of late evening finishes and extended working days. Reducing the interval provides an opportunity to shorten the working day.
Simplifying the working day
Commenting on the most efficient farms in terms of labour efficiency, Conor Hogan noted that the most efficient farms tend to focus on a small number of key tasks each day.
“The most efficient farmers were generally doing eight or nine core tasks. Milking and calf care were at either end of the day, with three or four priority tasks in the middle,” he said. “On less effective farms, farmers could be trying to do up to 20 tasks a day, constantly chopping and changing, which led to much later finishing times.”
He stressed that routine is essential, adding: “Work will always expand to fill the day if structure isn’t there. Spring is busy, but simplifying the day makes it far more manageable.”
Both Martina and Conor also shared several practices that will save time on dairy farms this spring, including:
- Reviewing milking times and adopting a 16:8 interval.
- Using contractors to their full potential.
- Considering once-a-day milking for short periods where SCC is not an issue, as research shows no reduction in output in early lactation.
- Having clear systems for calf care, which accounts for approximately 24–25% of spring workload.
- Install batt latches when operating on-off grazing.
For full insights on ways to reduce labour on dairy farms this spring, listen in to the Dairy Edge podcast below:
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