Raymond Ryan of Dairygold’s Milk Quality Advisory team joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge with tips on preparing for commencing supply and ensuring milk quality standards are maintained.

Raymond recommends washing the bulk tank and the plant in advance of putting milk in the tank as it has been idle for a number of weeks now.

He also suggests checking the level of uptake of chemical to ensure the tank and any autowashers are using the right quantity of detergent and descaler.

High SCC in February is not acceptable and Raymond recommends people try to respond as early as possible in order to deal with the source of the problem. This may require consultation with your vet as to the best course of action but getting on top of SCC at the start of lactation is important to have good control for the full lactation.

Finally, Raymond speaks a lot about the process, whatever the process is, whether it is washing the milking machine, dealing with a mastitis case, dealing with a freshly calved cow, it is important that people put a system in place and stick to it so that it can be repeated consistently. 

This, in his experience, is what delivers results from a milk quality perspective but can also contribute to the smoother running of the farm during busy periods such as during calving.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com