Tools for efficient milking, cow health
DairyNZ has put together in-depth tools and animations on how to milk efficiently while ensuring cow health.
The free Milksmart events provide farmers with practical solutions to save time and money and reduce stress. New topics and content feature in this year's events based on farmer-feedback.
Over the next four weeks events will also be held in Masterton, Stratford, Whangarei, Edgecumbe, Ashburton, Oamaru, Winton and Clydevale.
Walton sharemilker, Chad Winke, attended the Morrinsville Milksmart event and said being able to select his own workshops enabled him to get the most out of the event.
"There's a number of ideas I'll be taking back to apply on our farm," says Winke.
"The milking efficiency workshop gave us targets to aim for. I've sat down with my staff to do the math around how much time we're spending on each cow and to look at the big picture around how our system is performing."
"To improve efficiency, we're identifying where we are losing time during milking and what techniques we need to work on," says Winke.
Each session is designed for one of three experience levels – those who are new to dairying, operational managers, and senior decision makers or farm owners.
"With each workshop designed for a different experience level, it meant I could choose the workshops that were most suited to my role on-farm and I was getting the right level of information that I needed," says Winke.
"I encouraged my farm assistant to attend the beginner workshops. When everyone's on the same level it provides a good environment to learn."
The practical topics include stockmanship, milking efficiency, cow flow, milking skills, mastitis management, smart cowshed design, people management, smart water use and more.
DairyNZ project manager for Milksmart, Chris Leach, says even small changes to a milking routine can add up and there are a number of techniques and areas covered to help farmers achieve this.
"A time saving of 45 minutes per milking has been achieved by a previous participant by applying some of the principles from the milking efficiency workshop. We're including plenty of new material, as well as the topics that have worked well in the past," says Chris.
To register for an event near you visit www.dairynz.co.nz/milksmart. A full programme is available online.
A free barbeque lunch sponsored by RD1 is provided at each event.
