Milk Recording the Choices
Have you meters or jars? Yes/No
Yes – “Manual” Milk Recording – for herds with meters or jars in the parlour. The milk recorder visits and records the volume of each cow and takes a sample for analysis. There is no extra labour requirement for the farmer.
Herd Owner must use ICAR Approved milk meters or jars (not milk “Indicators”).
No – Electronic-DIY Milk Recording – for herds without meters there is no up-front cost of meters, instead the meters are delivered on the day of recording. With the main benefits being the farmer is in control re: milking time and there is no “stranger” in the pit, also the meter auto samples and agitates.
Recording will give you:
- Somatic Cell Count, Fat% & Protein% – for each cow
- Yield of fat, protein and milk calculated
- A number of farm reports – herd and group averages, trends, individual cow yields and detailed SCC reports for cows, cow groups and the overall herd.
Costs & Schemes
- Charged per recording
- Minimum 4 visits for Spring Herd e.g. every 2 months in milking period
- Minimum 6 visits for All Year Herd e.g. every 2 months
- If necessary farmers can record every month e.g. if there is a SCC problem it may be beneficial to record more regularly for a period of time.
The Actual Testing
Our samples are all tested in Independent Milk Labs in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan – where the staff in the lab provide a service 7 days a week, in 10 hour shifts, with one of the main priorities being getting results back farmers as quickly as possible.
We have over 130 Manual Milk Recorders to find out who provides the Manual Milk Recording Service in your area – ring Louise Knight – details below
For more information or to organise Milk Recording for you, please feel free to call:
Milk Recording Office | 046 9540606 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Louise Knight | 087 2505723 | Field Supervisor (Northern Area) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Emma Behan: |
086 0667030 | Field Supervisor (Southern Area) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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