Vat monitor makes sure milk stays cool

Its launch coincides with tougher cooling standards requiring raw milk be cooled faster and held at the correct temperature.

Vat Manager Plus, made by Tru-Test, regulates temperature and agitation, and monitors critical incoming and in-vat milk temperatures and rates of temperature change. The unit, with its supporting online interface, holds memory for data recording, storage and audit requirements and reliably warns of cooling problems inside and outside the vat.

Text messages and emails generated by Vat Manager Plus to multiple devices will alert farmers if their milk cooling is not on track. Early notification includes milk which is too hot, too cold or taking too long to cool, plus wash, power and hardware faults.

Tru-Test general manager New Zealand, Verne Atmore, says cooling problems can be difficult to detect; they may be caused by a farmer forgetting to throw a switch, a power outage or hidden pre-cooling or vat problems.

"At present, discovery of milk cooling issues regularly happens at tanker pick-up or when the farmer gets a temperature grade. Farmers bear the cost of detecting poorly chilled milk late in the process. They receive no payment for rejected milk.

"Vat Manager Plus will help make latent cooling problems visible so farmers can investigate. With tighter control of onfarm cooling and early response to issues as they happen, farmers will have better control over the quality of milk presented for sale and will maximise the payment for their efforts," Atmore says.

The company says industry flow-on benefits from farmers using the product could include a greater national milk yield at current inputs and removal of waste from the dairy supply chain.

"In the bigger picture, we are moving towards solutions that show New Zealand at the global forefront of responsible dairying," she says.

Vat Manager Plus is a robust vat-side unit with temperature display easily viewable at a distance, in low light and extreme brightness, and includes high-specification system components and temperature probes. It provides a vat-side 30-day history of the vat's contents, complemented by longer history online.

The product is priced at $1795 plus installation cost.

Tru-Test also anticipates launching Vat Manager Auto, a 'premium' monitor-controller which will automatically turn on vat and side wall refrigeration and signal vat volume alerts.

The company also makes livestock weighing and ID systems, dairy refrigeration and data management systems.