NON-STRIPPING COWS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 125, 4 July 1941, Page 8

NON-STRIPPING COWS

BETTER RETURNS AND LESS DISEASE CLAIMS OF TARANAKI FARMERS

A considerable amount of controversy resulted some months ago ! whan the non-stripping method of milking cows was advocated by Mr AndreAV McLean, of Edgecumbe, and i in view of this the following ailt- ; icle published in the Taranaki , Daily News (New Plymouth) should prove of interest to farmers of the Rangitaiki. With prospects rather significantly pointing to less labour being available for next dairy season, many farmers throughout Taranaki are asking themselves how they are going to manage with large herds to be milked. One method that in-* stantly suggests itself is to leave all the milking to the milking machineFarmers Interviewed. This week a Daily News reporter set out to interview certain dairy farmers who had had the courage to experiment with the non-strip-ping idea, not merely for a week or a month, but over a full season. As a result, he 1 was forced to this conclusion that, provided the machine was efficient, and that the usual shed routine was observed, there was little likelihood of loss being suffered. Evidence available in North Taranaki went to show that the nonstripping of a dairy herd was particularly successful in cases where the farmer had installed some variety of the vacuum break device that have been on the market for the last year or two. Four farms were investigated. Each claimed an increasing amount of butterfat. Each agreed that the saving in labour had been substantia!. Each had experienced an improvement in the health of the cattle, and each commented upon the time he had saved. Further Advantages. The advantages went even further. One fanner, who adopted the system in a critical attitude told the reporter that he. was convinced the useful life of his cows would be prolonged. He also said that his herd replacements had fallen from 25 per cent, to 15 per cent., and would have been less had he not been breeding to build up higher producers. Before he dispensed with stripping ho was greatly troubled with mammitis in his he r d. To-day, the cows were practically free. He put it this way: ''Before, the cows itj'.e.d to cull themselves. Now we do it by selection." Facts and Figures. Another non-stripping dairy farmer pointed, out that he not only saved the cost of an assistant which he placed at at least £150 a year, but he and his brother regularly put their 112 cows through the shed in under two hours. "I'f," he said, "there is any slight loss of butterfat it is more than compensated fbr in the time and wages we save, but as a matter of fact our returns have actually increased." Returns Quoted. The many farmers in Taranaki who would like -to dispenses with stripping, but who- are concerned to think that their revenue might fall and their production decrease should study the following figures : In the season 1937-38 Messrs Woolridge Bros., Dover Road, Okato, milked 115 cows for a return of 28,0001b of butterfat. The next season they stopped stripping as from October 1, but drew from 114 cows a total of 29,5001b of l'at. For the 1939-40 season the same number of cows was milked and the yield rose to 32,3451b. This Season the herd was reduced to 112 cows. Up to March 31 the factory had paid out on 31,4571b of fat. There was still two months to go and the herd was milking exceptionally well. Through cut the non-stripping period the average test had risen, but the thers admitted that this might be flue to the fact that they liiad been breeding out of their Friesian herd into a desirable type of Jersey cross. At least a quarter of their herd had previously to be replaced each sea., son because of losses through mammitis. Now the incidence of disease was so negligible that they had cul down substantially on the numhev of heifers saved each year for tlieir own use. Eac-h one introduce'] info the herd was now broken in to milk without stripping. Astonished Farmer. .A J Pu/'(■);n n Farmer milking 150 cows lost his assistant at the ne ginning of the season. SermMhi m ; had to be done, so he decided to (Continued in next column).

save time by eliminating stripping. To his astonishment, the herd will produce nearly 40001b more butter# fat than it did during the previous season. He is prepared to allow <) good deal of the credit for this in crease to the better climatic condi tions, but is at a loss to account ior the undeniable fact that immediately he recommenced to strip at the end of February his test dropped a point, from 4.2 to 4.1. Last year the same number of cows produced a total of 42,0001b of fat. Thisi sea<son the yield will be between 45,000 and 46,0001b. Towards the end of 8 cow's milking he generally squeezed the udder gently, and, m some cases, added slightly to the weight of the cups. No additional feed was produced or given to the herd. Experiment With Heifers. This same farmer introduced a line of 35 heifors to liis herd Ins' year and tested them under tb" group system. All save seven wor.stripped after the mnehine wns token off. At the end of the year, when ho came to compare the pr-~ dncf/on. the srven not strijyjin'' m-r'rngnd just 51 h of hutterfnt lesthan the others. Similar evidence of better return'" and healthier cows was given the other two farmers seen by tlv reporter.