Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
The cleaner sits between the cups and the milk line. It sends a jet of oxidised water through the pipe, cluster and cups immediately after cups are removed, expelling bacteria left in the cup and readying the cup for the next cow.
Mastitis-causing bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactia and mycoplasma are washed out. This results in healthier udders, cleaner milk and better milk payouts, Burrows says.
“It produces a better product and reduces the amount of drugs that need to be injected into the udder so it’s a win-win.”
Staphylococcus aureus is a growing problem for the industry, says Burrows, with current farming conditions making it difficult to manage.
“It’s highly contageous, milking machines transfer it nicely and the farmer doesn’t know easily which cow is carrying the bacteria.”
New Zealand farmers have been slow to warm to the cluster cleaners but the equipment has been a hit overseas, Burrows says. “We’ve got five installed in New Zealand but thousands in other parts of the world. There are a lot of countries that dip their cups in buckets of water so it’s a labour saving device for them.”
The unit can be mounted independently or work in conjunction with the company’s automatic cluster removers or Weighhall milk meters.
The cleaners are water resistant but should be put somewhere where they aren’t going to be sprayed with a high pressure hose.
The process takes no more than 15-20 seconds to complete, is automatic and, says, Dairymaster national sales executive Darren O Shea, uses 1L of water and 2ml of food quality acid in the process.
Installation takes about one day for herringbone sheds and 2-4 days in rotary sheds, done between milkings.
Tel. 0800 765 6075
www.dairymaster.com
