While it is possible to have SOPs for many important tasks on a dairy farm, there are few more important than milking parlor procedures. 

Recently, Tom Wegner was named the recipient of the 2023 Boehringer Ingelheim Dairy First Award. “It was pretty cool for Rebecca Gotham, my BI rep, to recognize me, our farm and my employees for all the hard work we do,” Wegner says.

The first year of milking cows in a rotary can be both a dynamic and humbling experience; the learning curve is different for every individual farm. 

Let’s be very clear – we do not use vacuum to “suck” the milk out of the cow. She must give it to us voluntarily. If we want to milk cows more gently, quickly and completely, the goal must be to improve milk flow rates through better stimulation and milk letdowns.

The cow and her environment, milking routine and milking equipment are the three legs of the "mastitis triangle" – areas to pay close attention to avoid mastitis outbreaks. Read all about it here.

How often should you do an audit in your milking parlor and adjust your protocols? Let's analyze a few different dairies around the country and consider the success they saw when conducting an audit.