In 10: Small changes that can get hours back in your week

Every minute in the farm dairy counts. Research shows the right milking routine can save you hours every week. In this episode of Talking Dairy in 10, host Jac McGowan chats with Dairy Training tutors Julie Morgan and Pete Morgan about how small changes at milking can make a big difference.

They explain how the free MilkSmart workshop can help you fine-tune your milking routine using proven DairyNZ science including MaxT, which can shave minutes off every milking, and in some cases over three hours per week.

If you’d like to know how you could get time back in your day, tune in to hear more and then check out Dairy Training to find a MilkSmart workshop near you.

MilkSmart - Dairy Training

 

About Dairy Training

Dairy Training is a subsidiary of DairyNZ and registered NZQA provider. With funding from the Tertiary Education Commission and support from DairyNZ, it delivers free training to help farmers build capability.

Courses are expertly designed, teaching practical skills farmers can use immediately. Dairy Training also delivers popular DairyNZ-designed workshops such as MilkSmart and CalvingSmart

Check out dairytraining.co.nz to find courses and workshops available near you.

Have feedback or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [e-mail]

Connect with DairyNZ

Stay up to date with advice, latest research, tools and resources. Read, browse, scroll, listen, or be there in person. Visit dairynz.co.nz/get-connected

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Kiora and welcome to Talking Dairy in 10.
I'm your host Jack McGowan fromDairyNZ.
Today we're talking about timebecause every minute in the farm
dairy counts.
Milk Smart workshops show youhow small changes at milking
could save you hours every week.
Joining me are Julie Morgan andPete Morgan from Dairy Training
to explain more.

(00:22):
Let's get into it.
Tienakuru, Julie and Pete.
Welcome along.
Let's start with quick intros,and Julie, I'll give you the
floor first.

SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
Hi Jack, thanks for that.
So I'm Julie Morgan.
I'm based down in Taranaki, bornand bred dairy farmer, now um
working for the Wonderful DairyTraining.
Going out on the road shortlywith Pete, who I'm not related
to.
So we'll get that out for thestart.
Yeah, so really looking forwardto getting out and meeting
people out on the road.

(00:52):
And how about you, Pete?

SPEAKER_02 (00:54):
So my name's Pete Morgan.
I um dairy farm just south ofTalmudu.
Built 500 cows, got an awesomeyoung team on the farm, and an
important part of my life is uhlike Julie being involved with
dairy training.
It keeps me connected withwhat's happening in the
industry, all the latest workfrom Dairy and Z, but most
importantly, with just thisgreat, rich range of farmers'

(01:16):
different stages of life andinterests and um and the range
of topics that uh DairyNZcovers.

SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
You've both mentioned dairy training.
Would one of you like to tell uswhat dairy training is?

SPEAKER_02 (01:28):
Sure, I'll have a crack.
Dairy training is a teaching armof DairyNZ.
The idea of Eurotraining is justto provide practical,
easy-to-access training to dairyfarmers on topics that have been
supported by DairyNZ science, uhthe best of the industry,
contemporary information, andtaught often by farmers like

(01:49):
Julie and I, who are boots onthe ground.
A range of courses, feeding,profitability, business, a
really cool leadership course,contract milking and farm
environment planning.
And the range of courses isevolving over time.

SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Thank you.
One of the events we're talkingabout today is Milk Smart.
What's that all about, Julie?

SPEAKER_01 (02:09):
So, Milk Smart, well, for once, it's a free
course.
You don't usually get often freecourses.
So it's going to be a fun andinteractive workshop where
you'll learn some really coolideas and tools so that you can
start to making milking moreefficient and fun for all the
team.
The focus of the MilkSmart is toimprove milking efficiency.

(02:33):
And by just making some smallchanges, farmers have seen
significant gain in performance,quality, and profability.
This leads to, as I said before,better outcomes not just for the
people, but for the cows andfarm profitability.
Milk smart strategies enhancemilking performance for both the

(02:55):
herringbone and rotary dairy.
So it's not just for theherringbone, it's for how we can
improve with our rotaries aswell.

SPEAKER_00 (03:03):
Thanks, Julie.
And Pete, why is milkingefficiency such a big deal?

SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
On the obvious level, milking efficiency is
linked to just the amount oftime in the shed.
And we all know that it's thecore function that we have in
dairy farming, the time we spendthere milking cows, checking
them, managing them.
But the overall efficiency, ofcourse, is about what we
actually get for that time.
And to not just streamline thetime.

(03:30):
There are a whole lot of otherfeatures that I'm Julie
mentioned.
So having the cows flow throughquickly, spending less time in
there, less time with cups onmeans it's far better for them.
They're the cows' own confidencein being there, less impact on
others, and more time foractually observation as well.
So you're picking up cows withany issues, uh drafting for

(03:51):
mating and other things.
And a whole range of interestlevel that we'll see lifted and
as Julie said, fun in the shed.
There should be far morestimulating rather than sort of
enduring milkings.
We've noticed, I've did thecourse years ago, our staff, we
put through it every year, andI'm always amazed they come out
of it.
Just this whole new zest of lifefor the cow shed, rather than

(04:13):
enduring and milking the farmore engaged and interested.
As farmers, we're prettycompetitive, so just shaving a
few minutes off each milking andthen finding it adds up to sort
of well, we took 45 minutes offbeing more efficient and using
max tea.

SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
Okay, so it sounds like milking efficiency can save
time for both cows and peopleand free up time elsewhere on
the farm, but also make milkinga bit more fun and and allow
for, you know, a bit moreobservation as well.
That sounds really good.
Julie, can you give us anexample of how much time?
I mean, Pete's already given usone example, but I'm sure you

(04:46):
can give us more.
How much time can be saved byapplying these milk smart
principles?

SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Yeah, so as we know, Jack, time is money, right?
And all of us farmers want to besaving money one way or the
other.
So just by making some smallchanges, we can achieve that.
So the average herd in NewZealand, this is the last stats
that come out, is about 448cows.
So if we can save two secondsper cow, then we can save 15

(05:16):
minutes per milking.
So that adds up 30 minutes aday, up to three and a half
hours per week, which is a lotof time we can be doing things
outside of the shed, whetherthat be recreational, taking the
boat out, spending time with thekids, or getting some more work
done on the farm.

SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
Can you give us some examples, Julie, of what are the
principles of Milk Smart or whatmight people do?

SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
So there's things like the way we use a backing
gate, where we positionourselves in the shed, what our
machines are set at.
Just some simple things likethat can make big changes to the
whole milking time.

SPEAKER_00 (05:56):
Okay, and I know that one of the things is MAXT,
and that will be covered in theworkshops.
Pete, what is MAXT and how doesit help save time?

SPEAKER_02 (06:06):
MAXT is a great concept that Dairy and Z came up
with.
It is an approach tounderstanding in your unique
shed, number of cows, number ofrows, the way the milk flows,
what is the optimum time thatcups should actually be on a
cow?
And doing some very solidresearch and lots of farmer
experience, right against whatwas traditional, whereas you

(06:28):
would leave the cups on untilthe milk absolutely stopped,
thinking that would cause allsorts of problems.
We've realized that leaving somemilk in there has no impact at
all on the cow, on mastitis,cell count, or productivity.
So MAX T at the heart is how wedefine the exact amount of time
that cows as a maximum shouldhave the cups on.

(06:49):
And the idea of milking fasterwithout changing production,
without changing the sharedinfrastructure, no impact on
animal health.
It's a fixed time, or if youwork on when milk flow drops to
a certain level, based on somevery simple calculations.
And the DNZ website's got somegreat tables on it, and we walk
them through it, the realworkings of it in the workshops

(07:11):
to be at the heart of actuallystreamlining the whole milking
operation.

SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
Yeah, we adopted Max T ourselves many years ago when
I was milking.
And aside from the time saving,I just recall the pressure that
came off when we were milking atthe right speed and how much
more relaxed I was in the shed.

SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
Takes a lot of the thinking out of it.
Is she milked out?
Is she not milked out?
Yes, she is.
Time's up.
Yeah, just a flow.

SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
It's a real stress, and you're always second
guessing yourself when you'retrying to make the assessment
and leaning on cups and doingall those little things.

SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
There's no more leaning.

SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
No, no, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
I'd forgotten about that.

SPEAKER_02 (07:50):
And for our staff, just that feeling of being more
effective and productive, thatlevel of interest in there.
And as you said, Jack, justrelaxing during milking and
through that become moreobservant.
The cup changing technique canbe concentrated on, so you have
less repetitive strains onthings.
And so rather than enduringmilkings, they they become just

(08:11):
sort of this cool key part ofthe day where you get to engage
and do your thing.

SPEAKER_00 (08:15):
Okay, Julie, what can I expect if I come to a Milk
Smart workshop?

SPEAKER_01 (08:19):
Okay, so as I said, they're free.
So taking that out makes it moreaccessible.
So I can keep my wallet in mypocket.
Yes, you can.
So these sessions are great fora whole team to come to.
Because we want everybody onboard and be part of the
decision making.
That's what's happening on farm.
Because if you don't, one personcan stuff it up for everybody.

(08:44):
Cows are easier to changeroutines than people are.
So we're giving some ideas andsome skills to the people to
help with that change.
We're going to look at threemain areas where improvements
can be made.
And this can be cow behaviour,people's skills and behaviour,

(09:05):
and the milking plant or theinfrastructure of the shed.

SPEAKER_00 (09:09):
Okay, and finally, Pete, where can I find out about
the Milksmart workshops?

SPEAKER_02 (09:15):
The best place to find out about the MilkSmart
workshops in your area is gostraight to the dairy training
website.
You'll be able to registerthere, find out the dates, and
remember it's free.
As Julie said, bring your wholeteam along.

SPEAKER_00 (09:28):
Okay, so workshops are happening this summer.
How many?
Where are they?

SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
Okay, so we've got at this stage 20 workshops
booked in.
We start in early December,where we will be in the Upper
South Island and then inWaikato.
And then come February andMarch, Pete and I are on the
road for five to six weeks,where we will be covering the
rest of New Zealand.

(09:54):
They start 10 o'clock to 2o'clock, so you've got time to
get the milking done in themorning and those early jobs,
and then come up to theworkshop.
And you may even get a freelunch.
So well worth coming, even ifit's for the lunch.

SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Thank you very much, Julie.
And thank you both for joiningus on this episode.
If you would like to find outwhen and where the Milk Smart
workshops are happening thissummer, check out
dairytraining.co.nz and we'lllink to it in the show notes
too.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode of Talking Dairy in 10.

(10:34):
If you'd like to get connectedwith DairyNZ's latest advice,
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As always, if you have anyfeedback on this podcast or have

(10:55):
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talkingdairy at dairynz.co.nz.
Thanks for listening, and we'llcatch you next time on Talking
Dairy.