A contract milker is a self-employed farmer, managing the property and paid on a negotiated price per kilogram of milksolids (kgMS) produced. Learn more about the considerations, advantages and skills required for this type of business ownership.

Efficient water use in the milking shed can lead to significant savings. This page provides tips to optimise water use during milk cooling, plant washing, and yard washing.

Switching to full-season once-a-day (OAD) milking is a practice considered by many dairy farmers, especially in New Zealand.

Establishing a successful sharemilking or contract milking relationship requires thorough due diligence. Understand your own situation, including goals, values, financial standing, and farming practices.

Once-a-day (OAD) milking is the practice of milking cows only once during a 24-hour period. This page covers the reasons and options for implementing OAD milking on your farm.

Keeping your milking system clean and safe is an essential part of maintaining your farm successfully. The cleanliness of the milking system and the dairy is critical, so understanding your systems and the processes to cleaning is very important.

Regular service and maintenance of your milking machine will help ensure that the speed and completeness of milking is maintained, and the risk of mastitis due to milking machine faults is minimised.

Early lactation once-a-day (OAD) milking is a short-term strategy used during the calving period. Understanding the benefits and trade-offs helps you make informed decisions for your herd and business.

An Automatic Milking System (AMS) lets cows choose when to be milked by a robotic system without human help. It has a robotic arm and an identification system. When a cow enters, it's checked if she's due for milking.

Drenching is a method you can use during your milking routine to balance your dairy cows' diet and safeguard against metabolic diseases.

Once-a-day (OAD) milking is a practice adopted by dairy farmers to manage their herds during late lactation, particularly from Christmas onwards.

Improving milking efficiency is one of the great wins for dairy farmers.

Frustrated that milking wasn’t more enjoyable for his team, Bay of Plenty farmer Gordon McFetridge decided it was high time to seek help from milking expert Josh Wheeler.

Missed milkings due to power cuts or extreme weather events can be managed with minimal negative impacts on milk production. DairyNZ research indicates that cows in mid-lactation can tolerate delays, but early lactation cows require more care.

Leo Vollebregt wanted a thriving dairy farm, but faced challenges with staff retention and cow health. Then, he had an insight during a 2007 trip to Canterbury.

The Contract Milker Premium Calculator compares the profitability of contract milking with managing a farm. 

A monthly cashflow budget takes your annual cash budget and spreads your income and expenses across the year giving you a month-by-month basis picture of expected income and what you can anticipate spending.

In this episode we wrap up our three-part series on contract milking. You’ll find out what a farm owner needs to know when it comes to employing a contract milker.