By Dr Jolly Kabirizi
Due to a reduction in milk prices (in some districts of Uganda) and rising production costs, dairy farmers are struggling to make ends meet. Dairy farmers are desperate to cut costs, increase income and shore up shrinking margins.
One strategy cited is switching from twice-a-day to three-times-a-day milking. To determine if milking three times a day is a viable option for your farm, consider these advantages.
Advantages of milking three times a day
-Regardless of milk yield for milking twice, cows milked three times a day will increase daily milk production. Increasing the milking frequency from two to three times daily increases milk yield by about 21%.
-Transition from three times to six times was accompanied by an increase in the circulating levels of oxytocin, growth hormone, prolactin, dry matter intake and digestibility and a decrease in circulating insulin, whereas levels of glucose are unaffected.
-There is a stage-of-lactation effect on the response to increased milking frequency. Initiating three times milking at the beginning of lactation results in much greater responses than initiating three times milking after peak lactation.
-There is a positive carryover effect on milk yield if cattle being milked three times are returned to two times milking after peak lactation. It is postulated that these beneficial effects associated with early lactation are the result of enhanced mammary growth.
-Research reports suggest improvements in udder health indicated by lower Somatic Cell Counts (the number of cells per millilitre of milk), overall health and sometimes even reproductive performance.
-Milking three times a day offers an opportunity for increased milk revenue via increased yields for milk and milk solids and potentially lower Somatic Cell Counts.
-Three times a day milking offers an opportunity to more effectively and efficiently utilize milking facilities if extra capacity is available.
