Case Study: Wairarapa, milking 450 crossbreds in a 28-aside herringbone. Daniel Phillips, contract milker.
Last spring saw a smoother, faster, and more-accurate AB mating period for Featherston contract milker Daniel Phillips.
And he puts that down to no longer having to see the AB Technician having to carry out their work in the herringbone pit.
Daniel oversees a farm operation that calves down 450 crossbred cows.
After LIC stated it would no longer risk its AB Technician working in cramped and slippery conditions on trolleys inside herringbone sheds, Daniel said his farm's owner was philosophical about having to invest about $15,000 in upgraded shed facilities.
“To be honest the new facility has been great, and is a way-better arrangement now in that we’re not having to bring the on-heat cows up to the pit again (for AB, following milking).
"We can also do other stuff in the AB facility such as drenching, and the eves of the shed allow the staff or AB Tech to stay dry.”
“Last season the new process worked well, especially since the 6-week in-calf rate was 83%. It was smooth; we could fit 15 cows in the chute. I'm sure that's why the cows, and the AB Tech, were calmer and less stressed as they got the job done,” Daniel said.
The new infrastructure was built within a few days.
“We used local people who deal with cowshed upgrades & maintenance. We did some measurements, showed them a rough plan, and they concreted-in five poles and put in some beams behind.
“We took the opportunity to change the set-up too by putting in a hydraulic, push-button drafting gate. Drafting was previously quite hard to deal with using pulleys and a rope; now things are a lot better.”
Daniel said the farm’s AB Tech was happy to prioritise arriving at his farm early in the day, because the better facilities meant there was more certainty in terms of getting through their job faster and more efficiently.
“One of the complaints from one of our staff was that he was always at-risk of missing rugby, because at times we’d be waiting for the tech to finish at another farm, and the arrival time of our AB Tech was often inconsistent.
“Now the AB Tech can come to us early-on and know they’re going to finish by a certain time, because it’s smoother and more streamlined. If everyone had facilities like this I’m sure everyone would benefit in terms of arrival times, safety, and results, so there’s got to be a payback for us in the long-run.”
