Advantages and disadvantages of different milking methods from a labour organisation point of view

Milking involves close interaction between man, animal and technology. Key to assessing the labour organisation of milking parlours are, among other things, the requisite working hours, workload, available process engineering and possible process performance. Accurate labour organisation planning data are of supreme importance to modern dairy farms with up-to-date milking parlour procedures. They make possible the targeted identifica-tion and use of existing rationalisation potential. This permits the optimum utilisation of la-bour, a factor which is always expensive and scarce. Milking tasks are among the most important activities in the daily dairy farming routine. Doing the work carefully at least twice a day plays a key part in commercial success. Workflow when milking is made up of routine times, set-up and cleaning times, movement times and any waiting times. They vary according to the method of husbandry and milking, but consideration must also be given to farm labour organisation and the mechanical and electronic working aids used. Every milking procedure for tied and/or loose housing systems has its own particular advan-tages and disadvantages as regards labour efficiency, ergonomic costs, inspection and build-ing use. As the level of automation increases there is a decrease in the time required as well as in some of the physical workload. However, the mental demands on the milker increase. Inspecting cow and udder affects both working comfort and the possible milking yield of milk-ing methods. In group milking parlours (herringbone and side-by-side milking parlours) this means the rapid and rational completion of routine jobs, but it also means that the group can only be let out when the last cow in the group has been milked dry. Mean milking through-puts of between 5 and 6 cows per milking place per hour are therefore possible. In individual milking parlours (tandem and autotandem milking parlours) each cow is milked individually. This means that there are only very low waiting times. Accordingly, milking throughput is 6 to 8 cows per milking place per hour. Of course the smooth circulation of cows is a basic re-quirement here. This means that if at all possible the cows enter the milking parlour inde-pendently, without herding. The possible labour saving argues for the milking parlour as a milking method worth recom-mending in any case, even for smaller herds. There is no more daily knee-bending for each cow. Poor posture is also significantly reduced by milking in milking parlours.