4 times a day milking

12 Jan 2013

The number of herds in the North of Ireland on 3 times a day milking system has increased dramatically. Farmers state that they are getting an extra 15% more milk from the cows. However, research has shown that there is a pressing effect on reproductive performance. To my amazement we encountered 1 farmer in Co. Down, who now has his high yielding cows on 4 times a day milking. Within this system of production, calving index is not a priority.

Testimonials

I took over this farm a long time ago. I have only ever used Reprodoc because of the following:

reprodoc.ie provides reproductive management services for all of our dairy and beef stock. Pre-breed scanning is an essential part of our business whereby all cows are assessed prior to breeding and prior to embryo transfer programmes involving superovulation of donors and synchronisation of recipients for embryo transfer.

reprodoc.ie provides us with accurate ageing of pregnancy between 25 and 110 days of gestation and sexing of the same pregnancies between 55 and 110 days of gestation.

reprodoc.ie enables the information collected from the scanning of cows to identify potential herd health problems. This is an invaluable tool for the overall management of our herds. Reprodoc provide us with an excellent reporting system following each visit which enables us to focus more on the discussion of cows presented for scanning.

Kieran Harty
Ballyheigue, Co. Kerry