Regular milk recording provides insights into the health and performance of individual cows. Abnormalities in milk composition or somatic cell count can indicate health issues, such as mastitis or metabolic disorders. Identifying such problems early enables timely intervention, including veterinary care and adjustments to feeding or management practices. By addressing health issues promptly, farmers can improve animal welfare, minimize production losses, and reduce the need for antibiotics. 

Milk recording allows farmers to monitor the performance of their cows over time. By comparing data from different lactations or periods, they can assess the progress or decline in individual cow productivity. This information helps farmers identify trends, evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies, and make data-driven decisions regarding nutrition, breeding, or culling. 

Milk recording data is crucial for dairy cattle breeding programmes. By collecting and analysing performance data, individual cows can be ranked within the herd. These values are used to select bulls and cows with desirable traits for future generations.   

This service uses electronic meters which record milk volume and take test samples automatically. The herdowner carries out the recording himself / herself (DIY). Munster Bovine offers full training and support and should extra assistance be needed, we can provide an assistant. 

Instead of a recorder coming into your parlour to carry out the milk recording, for EDIY milk recording a technician delivers electronic meters to the farm. The electronic meter records the milk weight and automatically takes a sample for each cow. 

Our team of EDIY technicians will call ahead to schedule your milk recording and arrange a suitable time to drop meters for pm milking. If you are new to the service, our technician will stay for the first milking for training purposes. The farmer then completes the recording and reporting process and the samples are collected. (Single sample - pm/am Yields pm+am). 

A full set of instructions are provided for ongoing referral. If a farmer needs assistance, a milk recording assistant can complete the recording at an extra cost. 

Reports will be accessible approximately one week from date of recording. Farmers will receive a text message with the 5 highest SCC cows as soon as herd is processed. A full report will then be available immediately online at www.icbf.com and by post the next day.  

• Achieving good fertility performance combined with good health (low incidence of lameness, mastitis, SCC etc), creating the opportunity for you to sell your poorest performing cows. » If selling for poor performance, target cows in red on lifetime margin per day and red on year to date ‘double reds’.
• Improved performance of the bottom 20% will see the red churn at the top of your report become fuller, indicating better overall performance and a more uniform production herd.  

• Achieving a low SCC will result in better performance (more milk in the tank), and lower antibiotic usage.
• Each milk recording allows you to monitor each cow for SCC individually, building an SCC history and enabling you to make decisions on milking routine, treatment, culling etc.
• The milk recording lifetime report categorises each cow depending on the infection status (persistently infected, recently infected cured and healthy), allowing easy identify cation of cows that need attention.