First NZ installation

01-09-2010 | Not Specified

The first southern hemisphere ADF installation was completed in March this year at Steve and Mary Barr's Arran Trust 44-bail rotary dairy, near Feilding.

The decision to install the ADF was made in response to a "niggling" staph aureus mastistis problem. Steve Barr says that with a smaller herd, a mastitis problem of this nature can be contained and managed relatively easily. In a bigger herd, containment may not be quite as straightforward, especially where a contagious pathogen is involved.

Automation also means that less time is spent observing aspects of milking such as how well the cows are milked out. A milking management study by local veterinarians highlighted teat spraying as the only obvious area for improvement in milking management.

The installation was done by Bromley Engineering, of Feilding (who Tim McVeagh works for part-time).

Owner Steve Bromley told farmers attending a recent field day at Arran Trust, that installation of the ADF system took four days between milkings, and was relatively simple. He believes the componentry is of good quality, and that maintenance requirements are low.

The cup remover cluster retraction was changed during fine-tuning of the system. As teat condition improved, the liners would release from the teats more easily at the end of milking, so cup remover cylinder adjustments were made to allow for this.

There have been no mechanical problems to date with the system.

Steve Barr is generally pleased with the early results. It took about three days for the cows to accept the changes. While the compressed air can be heard by milkers, it is barely audible up at the cows' heads. Several improvements have been noted, starting with teat condition - which Barr observed within a week. Teat condition has improved remarkably, to the extent that he thinks it could not be better. Barr believes that while ADF is particularly suited to cantagious pathogens, improved teat condition must also be a benefit with respect to an environmental pathogen challenge.

He now uses about one-third of the teat spray compared with the previous automated spraying system. He likes the ADF claws, which he believes allow the cups to hang more vertically on the udders, resulting in better and quicker milking out.

The slow quarters are milked out more readily, so cups-on time is reduced. And air admission holes are not prone to blocking like they can on some claws. The end result is that the cows are more settled. Even niggly heifers settle into the milking routine better.

Barr's BMSCC runs at around 125,000. Open Country Dairy Ltd has a 6c/kg of milksolids incentive to supply milk with a BMSCC of less than 150,000.

So while Barr is happy with the ADF, he agrees that only waiting and observing for an extended period will give a true final assessment of the system's worth.

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