logo

There’s strength in flexibility

Adjusting milking frequency according to changing conditions and your team’s needs can make for greater workplace fulfilment and better staff retention.

Inside Dairy

2 min read

Attracting and retaining staff is a widespread challenge in the dairy sector. The next generation of people entering the sector value flexibility, but traditional milking timing and frequencies can be a barrier.

Milking often requires early starts, which most people prefer to avoid if possible or expect fair compensation for. A survey conducted last year showed that 55% of prospective dairy employees would expect an additional $5,000 to $10,000 in pay to start at 5am instead of 6am.

Milking can account for over half of the labour hours used on New Zealand dairy farms. Reducing the number of milkings is one approach to decrease work hours or allocate more time for other tasks.

It also can change the structure of the work day, providing the opportunity for more flexible working hours and increasing the labour pool available through part-time staff.

Over the past decade, there have been considerable changes in the use of different milking frequencies on farms. Fewer farms are milking twice-a-day (TAD) for the full season, about 40% (see Figure 1) down from 65%, replaced by combinations of TAD with once-a-day (OAD) or flexible milking approaches.

The flexible milking frequencies that farmers adopt vary in the number of times cows are milked each day and the hours between milkings. For example, if cows are milked three times over two days (3-in-2), the intervals might be 12 hours between milkings, then 18 hours and another 18 hours, or they might be 10, 19 and 19 hours, or 8, 20 and 20.

Another popular option is 10 milkings in seven days (10-in-7), which has many lifestyle benefits, particularly for weekend schedules.

Since Fonterra’s rollout of milk vat monitoring in 2020, we have gained a deeper understanding of the timing and use of milking frequencies. For the past three seasons, the breakdown of milking frequencies used has been relatively consistent (see Figure 1), and for most farms, the changes occur when they are approaching the season midpoint.

However, there are significant variations across different regions.

Northland has the highest adoption of full-season OAD milking, with about 40% of spring calving farms using this approach (see Figure 2). This may also explain their lower use of flexible milking.

Across the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki milking frequency breakdown is relatively similar compared with other regions. But Taranaki uses TAD milking for the full season more than any other region. This raises the question of whether there are further opportunities to introduce more workplace flexibility.

The most even split of flexible milking frequencies can be seen in Tasman-Marlborough and farmers in this region have the lowest use of full-season TAD.

A common hurdle in considering a reduction in milking frequency is the perception that "my cows produce too much to handle being milked less often”. Yet it’s interesting that the most productive regions are embracing a range of milking practices.

In areas like Canterbury and Otago-Southland, for instance, more than 40% of farms are using flexible milking for at least four weeks. And 20-30% of farms are using early-season OAD. This contributes to a national average of 15% of spring-calving herds using early-season OAD.

Research has shown that flexible milking frequencies often have limited impact on production. Studies also highlight improvements in body condition score, particularly before dry-off.

There can also be significant workforce benefits. For example, in a pilot study, farm workers using 3-in-2 milking during spring slept 27 minutes more per night starting from the third week of calving, compared to their teammates on two nearby farms that used TAD.

There are many options for farms to consider. What is attractive to some people won’t be to others. The key is to sit down and work out what you and your team want and design a milking schedule around that.

Have you thought about what milking frequency you plan to use after Christmas?

Find out more about milking frequencies at dairynz.co.nz/milking-intervals

Graph showing flexible milking frequencies used nationally and regionally.

This article was originally published in Inside Dairy November-January 2025.

About the contributor

Dr Paul Edwards
DairyNZ senior scientist

Page last updated:

25 Oct 2024


Share: