Dairy NZ

Once A Day (OAD) milking is an option to reduce pressure on the staff but it comes at a cost in reducing the potential milk production for the season. OAD cows in early lactation will consume the same amount of feed as TAD milked cows, therefore this should not be seen as a strategy to save feed. Only after 6-8 weeks on OAD does the daily feed demand of the cow reduce.

Consider the impact on lactation milk production

OAD milking decreases immediate milk production by approximately 20% in early lactation with the yield loss increasing to 30 to 50% as the duration of reduced milking frequency increases up to 10 weeks.

Carryover effects to TAD milking are likely if the OAD period is employed for periods longer than 3 weeks (Table 1)

Table 1. Effect of OAD milking in early lactation on immediate and carryover milk production responses

Although OAD milking during a feed restriction may provide benefits in terms of improved energy status, BCS and reproductive benefits, these benefits only occur beyond approximately 30 days in milk.

The milk yield loss with OAD milking during a feed restriction will be additional to any lost production due to the feed restriction (Table 2).

Table 2. Effect of milking frequency and/or a feed restriction in weeks 3-6 of lactation on lactation milk production

 3 times in 2 days (16 hour milking)

For high producing herds (>1.7 kg MS/cow/day) 16 hour, or 3 milkings in 2 days may be a better option than OAD milking. Recent research is not available on the impact of this milking regime on subsequent milk production however farmer experience would suggest that carryover effects are less than those experience with OAD milking.