A light at the end of the tunnel?
The country's farmers appear to be a little more upbeat than they were several months ago.
These will be presented by a team of New Zealand's leading experts to improve milking efficiency on the nation's dairy farms.
DairyNZ project manager for Milksmart, Chris Leach, says even small changes to a milking routine can add up.
"Some pretty big savings, in both time and money, have been achieved by our previous participants, so we're including the topics that have worked well in the past along with plenty of new material," says Leach.
"These days have been designed for the whole farm team, with both practical hands-on sessions for junior staff and higher-level strategic sessions for managers, owners and rural professionals.
"Feedback from farmers who have attended previous events has been incredibly positive and has helped shape the programme and format for this series."
The events, which are free-of-charge for levy-paying farmers and their staff, are part of a four-year programme aimed at improving the efficiency of the whole milk harvesting process – from collecting the cows from the paddock and milking, through to clean-up and return of the cows.
This year the format has been extended to run from mid-morning through to the evening and attendees will have the option to attend as many sessions as they like, at a time that best suits them.
Presenters include Mel Eden, Neil Chesterton, Jenny Jago and Josh Wheeler and there is a choice of 14 milk harvesting-related topics, each of which will be repeated two or three times during the day.
Topics include:
• Stockmanship – understanding and working with cows
• Managing milking – planning for efficient milking
• Cow flow – identifying design issues and practical solutions
• Milking skills – cupping techniques, teat spray and efficient milking routines
• Milker comfort – reducing the strain, healthy milking
• Smart design – what to build and how to avoid common faults
• Cow senses – the world from a cow's point of view
• PeopleSmart – tips for training milkers
• TechnoSmart – technology choice, value and use
• TimeSmart – shorter milking times through smart milking strategies
• Efficient rotaries and herringbones
To register or for more information on content and venues, visit www.dairynz.co.nz/milksmart
