A new, customised 50-unit rotary dairy has made a huge difference to daily work - and life outside work - for the Pleasance family at Tragowel near Kerang in northern Victoria.     

“The best part is that I can work on my own now and I don’t have to fit in with someone else,” Max Pleasance said.     

“It’s as much a lifestyle benefit as anything because now milking times are flexible. Over the summer holidays I have been joining the rest of the family for waterskiing at Lake Charm in between doing two milkings a day, so I have been getting half a holiday but still doing a full day’s work.       

“And when we do go away for a holiday, I only have to find one relief milker, not two, so it definitely makes life easier.”     

Max now milks on his own and achieves the same throughput as when two people were milking. He milks 230 cows in one hour and 10 minutes, timed from when he walks into the dairy to when he walks out.     

The family decided some years ago that to maintain viability, they had no choice but to expand their herd, which meant they had to upgrade their dairy.     

In consultation with Geoff Bruns Dairy Services of Cohuna, the family chose a WestfaliaSurge system including automatic feeding, drafting and Pulsation Arrest, which prevents the over-milking of cows. It also included the DairyPlan C21 herd management software package, to link with the National Livestock Identification Scheme eartag program.     

The system Max chose identified the cows as they entered the platform, and fed them according to a selection criteria he had designed.     

The cups would then be removed and the cows teat-sprayed by the cups-off operator just before leaving the platform.     

If the cows were to be drafted, this could be done either as a prior entry on the PC by Max, which would draft them automatically, or via a manual override switch by an operator.     

After a few months of working with the new system, Max decided he wanted to address a couple of issues.     

The first was his need for extra information about the cows as they enter the platform, and the second was for more flexibility in milking times.     

The platform was subsequently upgraded in January 2004 to include cow retention arms, Auto Cup Removers, an automatic teat spray and a touch screen at cups-on to record more information about the cows.     

Each cow retention arm is activated by the ACR terminal and lowers behind the cow as the cluster is applied, retaining the cow on the platform until the end of milking.       

The arm is designed for the odd cow that needs to travel around for a second rotation.     

The automatic teat spray is located in the exit race just prior to the drafting gate and accurately applies teat spray to each cow as she walks over the stainless steel unit.     

With the addition of a touch screen at cups-on, Max now has a wealth of individual cow information at his fingertips, including feed rations. He can also enter data for action to be taken on things such as animal treatments and drafting. The system also alerts the operator so that milk from cows on antibiotics or those that have just calved is separated from the main store of milk.     

As the cows enter the platform they are identified and the operator is alerted to take any action needed on individual cows by alerts on the computer screen and voice alarms.       

These upgrades have given the Pleasance family the flexibility to operate the dairy as it suits them and the ability to make instant decisions on individual cows during milking, making herd management easier and family life more enjoyable.     

For more information about touch screen technology, please ring the free call number 1800 789100 or contact your local WestfaliaSurge dealer.