by Carolina Pinzón-Sánchez 

Ensuring a comfortable and safe milking parlor environment for both cows and workers while efficiently using all available resources — including time — is crucial for the dairy business’s profitability. Milking time on a dairy farm is a balancing act between maintaining cleanliness and calmness while moving quickly enough to finish on time and get the cows back to their pens, where they can eat, drink, rest and produce milk.

The release of oxytocin is crucial for milk letdown and a fast and complete milking. However, once an animal experiences fear or pain, it takes 20 to 30 minutes for them to calm down. For this reason, handlers should walk calmly, avoid loud noises and use gentle pressure to create a smooth flow to the parlor. Traffic areas should be clear of distractions like hanging objects, misplaced hoses or trash that could slow cow movement.

Crowd gates should be used gently and moved little and often to keep cows near the parlor entrance and to minimize empty space in the holding area. Crowd gates should never be used to force cows into the parlor. This misuse raises animal welfare concerns and can impede a smooth flow. Advanced systems using RFID tags can automate this process, reducing stress and improving efficiency.

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Cow movers must ensure the parlor never runs out of cows to milk and that the next group is ready in the holding area as the last cow in the prior group finishes milking. Balancing parlor and pen sizes ensures cows spend no more than 60 minutes per milking session away from feed and rest areas.

Consistent milking routine

Consistency should be maintained in procedures, sequences and timing. The goal of a milking routine is to attach the milking unit to clean, dry and well-stimulated teats. It is essential that teat disinfection methods such as dipping, foaming or spraying ensure adequate coverage and a minimum contact time of 30 seconds for bactericidal effects.

The routine also should involve stimulation for optimal initial and continuous milk letdown, resulting in a faster milk-out process. Stimulation, such as fore stripping, wiping vigorously with a towel or using an automatic scrubber, should last at least 12 to 15 seconds to optimize milk letdown. Ideally, the lag time from teat stimulation to milking unit attachment is 60 to 120 seconds.

Cows love consistency: Therefore, all milking technicians must follow the same steps, in the same order, at the same pace for every cow during each milking session.

Proper cow handling

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Training the milking crew on proper cow handling and milking parlor best practices is critical. During team meetings and training sessions, also consider discussing the following key practices that enhance parlor efficiency:

Having a well-trained milking crew that consistently implements best practices in cow handling and milking procedures is essential for optimizing parlor efficiency and enhancing productivity and profitability. Implementing these strategies will streamline the parlor workflow, ensure tasks are completed accurately and promptly, and benefit cows, workers and owners alike.

Pinzón-Sánchez is a University of Wisconsin Extension dairy outreach specialist.