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Quality milk, milk production per worker-hour, and profitability can be optimized on dairy farms through careful management and capital investments. This is the proceedings from Milking Systems and Parlors: Planning and Managing for Quality Milk and Profitability, a conference held January 30-February 1, 2001, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Included are 26 papers divided among eight categories: profitability and quality milk, milking parlor efficiency, milking systems, testing and troubleshooting, using data to improve performance, managing milking, parlor features for worker and cow comfort, and milk cooling. The proceedings will be a valuable resource for producers and their advisors, milking managers, extension educators, service and supply industry representatives, milk plant field staff, veterinarians, sanitarians, engineers, and dairy scientists. (2001)

In today's competitive dairy industry, producers are continually looking for ways to optimize profits and milk quality, while keeping labor and other operating costs in check. Dairy producers can increase milk production per worker-hour and improve milk quality by adopting specific management practices and making some initial capital investments. A new publication, Milking Systems and Parlors: Planning and Managing for Quality Milk and Profitability, NRAES-131 ($30.00 plus S&H/sales tax; 348 pages; January 2001) -- the proceedings from a conference held January 30 through February 1, 2001, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania -- includes 26 papers by experts in various facets of the industry.

Milking Systems and Parlors: Planning and Managing for Quality Milk and Profitability provides the latest information on how to improve an existing milking system, as well as guidance for producers considering expansion. The papers are divided among eight sections: profitability and quality milk, milking parlor efficiency, milking systems, testing and troubleshooting, using data to improve performance, managing milking, parlor features for worker and cow comfort, and milk cooling. Specific topics addressed include parlor flooring, lighting, and environmental control; udder health maintenance; keeping cow stress levels low; Automated Milking Systems (AMS); worker-management strategies; and stray voltage. Contributing authors include experts from the land-grant university system and the private sector.

The "Milking Systems and Parlors: Planning and Managing for Quality Milk and Profitability" conference was sponsored by fifteen companies: Bou-Matic; Dairy One; Dairymaster Farming Systems; DeLaval; DLtech, Inc.; Farm Finance, Inc.; First Union National Bank; Greenhouse Supply, Inc.; Kipe Steel, Inc.; Knisely Built, Inc.; Land O'Lakes, Inc.; MidAtlantic Farm Credit, ACA; Norbco, Inc.; Northeast Dairy Business/DairyBusiness Communications; and Westfalia-Surge, Inc.

The planning committee for the conference included (in alphabetical order) Steve Eicker, Valley Agricultural Software; Curt A. Gooch, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering/PRO-DAIRY, Cornell University; G. M. (Jerry) Jones, Department of Dairy Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Douglas J. Reinemann, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Marty Sailus, Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES); Stephen B. Spencer, Spencer Consulting and Department of Dairy and Animal Science, The Pennsylvania State University; and Richard E. Stup, Dairy Alliance, Department of Dairy and Animal Science, The Pennsylvania State University.

Milking Systems and Parlors: Planning and Managing for Quality Milk and Profitability, NRAES-131, is available for $30.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling, from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, PO Box 4557, Ithaca, New York 14852-4557. Shipping and handling for one copy is $6.00 within the continental United States. New York residents, add sales tax (calculated on both the cost for publications and the shipping and handling charges. Click here for more information.) If ordering more than one book, or if ordering from outside the United States, contact NRAES for shipping rates and quantity discounts. Orders from outside the United States must be prepaid in U.S. funds. All major credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to NRAES. For more information or a free publications catalog, contact NRAES by phone at (607) 255-7654, by fax at (607) 254-8770, or by e-mail at nraes@cornell.edu. To learn more about NRAES and browse through our entire catalog, visit our web site at www.nraes.org.

Profitability and Quality Milk: Keynote Session

Milking Parlor as a Profit Center
Don R. Rogers

Milking Parlor Efficiency

Automated Collection of Parlor Performance Data, Part I: Information Needed and Proposed Standardized Definitions
Steven Stewart, Steve Eicker, Paul Rapnicki

Milking Systems

Milking System Design
Norm Schuring

Application of Adjustable Frequency Drives
David C. Ludington, James Kowalski

Dairy Operators Guide to Milking Machine Cleaning and Sanitation
Douglas J. Reinemann

The Purpose and Function of Chemicals Used to Clean and Sanitize Milking Systems
Winston Ingalls, John Baker

Automatic Milking Systems in the United States
Douglas J. Reinemann

Testing and Troubleshooting

Milk System Testing to Improve Milkability
David A. Reid

Understanding and Preventing Stray Voltage
Lee H. Southwick

Common Milking System Problems and Their Impact on Udder Health
Hal Schulte, David Wilson, Ynte Schukken

Measuring Liner Characteristics and Performance
Stephen B. Spencer

Using Data to Improve Performance

Automated Collection of Parlor Performance Data, Part II: Management Uses and Example Reports
Steven Stewart, Steve Eicker, Paul Rapnicki

Issues with Electronic Identification in Milking Parlors
Steve Eicker, Steven Stewart, Paul Rapnicki

Findings of a Pilot Study to Evaluate the Effects of Planned Changes to Automatic Detacher Settings
Paul Rapnicki, Steven Stewart, Sandra Godden, David A. Reid, Andrew P. Johnson

Monitoring Parlors and Personnel with In-Line Turbine Flow Meters
Steve Eicker

Managing Milking

A Proper Milking Routine, the Key to Quality Milk
Andrew P. Johnson

Milker Training and Communication
Gerald M. Jones

Hispanic Workforce: Bridging the Cultural Gap
Miguel Morales

Milker Training Strategies: Translating Theory into Practice
Richard Stup

Parlor Features for Worker and Cow Comfort

Minimizing Cow Stress in the Milking Parlor
Edmond A. Pajor

Effective, Low-Stress Cow Movement in and around Milking Centers
Dan F. McFarland

Design Criteria for Floors in the Milking Parlor Complex
Jack Rodenburg

Lighting Systems and Design for Milking Centers
Daniel Ciolkosz, Curt A. Gooch

Environmental Control for Today's Milking Center
Curt A. Gooch

Retrofit Parlors -- Case Studies
David W. Kammel, Vance Haugen, Jim Leverich, Mark Mayer, Tim Rehbein

Milk Cooling

Cooling Systems
Stephen B. Spencer

Speaker Biographies

Daniel Ciolkosz
Steve Eicker
Curt A. Gooch
Winston Ingalls
Andrew P. Johnson

Gerald M. Jones
David W. Kammel
David C. Ludington
Dan F. McFarland
Miguel Morales

Edmond A. Pajor
Paul Rapnicki
David A. Reid
Douglas J. Reinemann
Jack Rodenburg

Don R. Rogers
Hal Schulte
Norm Schuring
Lee H. Southwick
Stephen B. Spencer

Steven Stewart
Richard Stup

Conference Sponsors

Bou-Matic
Dairy One
Dairymaster Farming Systems
DeLaval
DLtech, Inc.

Farm Finance, Inc.
First Union National Bank
Greenhouse Supply, Inc.
Kipe Steel, Inc.
Knisely Built, Inc.

Land O' Lakes, Inc.
MidAtlantic Farm Credit, ACA
Norbco, Inc.
Northeast DairyBusiness / DairyBusiness Communications
Westfalia-Surge, Inc.

Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings
Ordering Information

Conference Notes Pages
About NRAES

About NRAES
NRAES Member Universities