The Critical Role of Early Milk Recording for Dairy Farmers
Milk recording stands as a pivotal task on any dairy farm. Despite its importance, many farms have yet to adopt a regular milk recording routine. The breadth of data obtained from milk recording informs key decisions on breeding, culling, antibiotic usage, and overall herd health.
Improving Farm Practices
Committing to multiple milk recordings each year enables farmers to enhance milk solids, reduce somatic cell counts (SCC), and cultivate better heifers. With evolving regulations on antibiotic use, understanding and controlling cell counts become crucial.
Although regarded as a cost (approximately €12 per cow annually), the benefits of milk recording, such as improved milk yield and quality, are substantial, justifying the investment.
Timing and Benefits
Farmers are advised to schedule an early milk recording around 60 days after the first calving. This timing provides valuable insights into dry period management and early lactation.
Animal Health Ireland suggests six recordings per year: two for assessing dry cow management, two for milk quality improvement, and two for safe cow dry-off. This structured approach helps identify cure rates and new infections and aids in breeding program decisions.
Optimizing Breeding
Early recordings help shape breeding programs. Most farmers now breed only the necessary replacement heifers, using top cows for dairy sexed semen and beef sires for other cows. High dairy beef index bulls optimized for calving difficulty and carcass weight ensure quality dairy beef calves.
SCC Management
Regular recording aids in tracking SCC, identifying problem cows, and decreasing herd SCC, thus enhancing milk prices. Reports post-recording highlight successful mastitis controls and pinpoint improvement areas while informing financial losses due to high SCC cows.
Acting on recording data is crucial. Persistently high SCC cows should be culled to protect uninfected herd members and prevent infection spread.
Additionally, cost-effective pregnancy diagnoses via milk samples remove the need for handling and scanning cows, providing a practical tool for farmers.
