Here are some tips to help make your dairy farm operations more efficient:

1) Number of cows to milk

• Studies have sowed that the most efficient dairy farmers usually have on average 9 rows of cows as opposed to 11 rows.

• Since milking is one of the most time consuming things, small changes makes a big differencec.

2) Automatic backing gate

• It is recommended to have automatic backing gate installed in the milking parlour.

• Scraping gates, up and over backing gates and circular backing gates can lead to labour cost savings as they are customised to fit your farm and allow better cow flow.

3) Milking once a day

• Studies have shown that most effective way for milking is to perform it once a day for at least 4 weeks in the year during spring time.

• This means the farmer will spend the morning milking cows and rest of the day calving cows and feeding.

4) Using machinery to deliver feed

• Using technology and machinery to deliver feed to animal is much more effective.

• This saves cost and it is more time efficient as well.

5) Contract rearing

• Rearing calf is a seasonal task but it is very time consuming.

• One effective way to save the farmer's time is to contract out the rearing by another farmer.

• This allows the dairy arm to focus on dairy milk production and it also frees up limited shed space.