Milking parlor evaluation – How to get started with assessments

Dairy farmers have been utilizing machine milking to collect milk from cows for almost 200 years. Despite the long and storied history of machine milking, the milking machine plays an important role in the maintenance of quality milk production. As veterinarians, we are skilled in physiology and bacteriology but have little understanding of milk machine function. Veterinarians can expand their service offerings to improve milk quality by systematically evaluating machine function and understanding the impacts of recommended changes. Machine milking aims to help maintain good milk quality by creating an environment that removes milk in a clean, gentle and complete manner. This environment is created by coupling machine settings with milking liners and the activities of milk harvest technicians to minimize overmilking of cows, as overmilking leads to unwanted changes in teats. However, evaluating milking equipment without assessing milk harvest technician activity, the cows and their environment, and overall farm management, will often fail to lead to improvements in milk quality.