Over Milking v. Under Milking

Here at the Bob-White Systems research micro-dairy in Royalton, Vermont, I’m often asked this simple question: Is it better to over-milk or under-milk a cow? Truth be told, this is a far from simple question and the answer depends completely on your priorities as a dairy farmer and even, to a certain degree, your politics.

Some dairy industry background

In the U.S., the goal of the “Dairy Industry” is to keep milk a cheap and plentiful manufacturing input so that milk and dairy products can be sold relatively inexpensively to urban constituencies—the old “cheap food” policy. That means all of the dairy management practices promoted by the industry are designed to make milk production on dairy farms fast and efficient at the expense of everything else, including the health of the cows.

The Land Grant College Extension Services, the state Departments of Agriculture and the USDA will trip all over themselves developing dairy farm management practices that will LOWER milk production costs. But, conversely, those same organizations will rarely ever do anything to encourage higher farm-gate milk prices so dairy farmers can make money.

In fact, I recently read that in order for a modern dairy farm to be considered efficient it should produce 1.6 million pounds of milk per year for every paid laborer on that farm. Imagine that. Obviously this doesn’t leave much time for cows to receive any one-on-one attention from humans. And the results are evident: The average life of a commercial dairy cow is approximately 4.5 years. Call it being milked to death.

The milking process

What this all means is that modern commercial dairy farms simply don’t have the time to “over-milk” cows and waste efficiencies, regardless of what’s best for the cows. Most commercial dairy farms have automated systems that automatically take the milking unit off a cow when the flow rate goes below a certain level, whether the cow is fully milked out in all four quarters or not. Again, time and efficiency are more important than the health of the cow.

The “milk industry” encourages commercial farmers not to worry about a little milk that may be left in a cow’s udder after she is milked and are told “you’ll get it from her the next milking”. The folks who milk the cows are discouraged from touching the milker after it has been placed on the cow. The lore is that the cow will get used to the milking system and gradually adapt so that all four quarters will milk out smoothly and evenly as long as it’s done the same way every time.

I haven’t found that to be the case. True, you want to avoid touching the cow’s udder after the milking machine has been placed on it and you especially don’t want to knead the udder to get more milk out.  But the gentle application of down pressure on the machine for a few seconds to elongate the udder doesn’t hurt the cow, and as long as the vacuum level at the teat end is properly set and the cow is not experiencing any discomfort, leave the machine on until all four quarters have been milked out.  Don’t fuss with it unless, of course, the cow’s udder is injured (that’s another story entirely).

Why milk out? Because leftover milk in a cow’s udder is a perfect medium for bacteria growth. The old treatment for mastitis is milking the infected cow dry several times per day so the infection has nothing in which to grow. Obviously, taking the time to get the milk out of a cow’s udder is better for the cow than leaving some behind.

Healthy cows are more efficient

After milking cows at the Bob-White System’s research micro-dairy in Royalton, Vermont for more than eight years, we have not had one case of mastitis. The average age of our cows is 6 years and our oldest cow is 14 and still going strong.

If the “milk industry” really wants to promote efficiency, consider if commercial dairy farmers were encouraged to adopt management practices designed to increase the average life of their cows to say six years; they would then have 1.5 more years to recover their per-cow investment. If the average life of a cow on a commercial dairy was extended to 7 or even 8 years, the per-cow ROI would increase dramatically.

So to answer the question of whether to over-milk or under-milk: Relax, make sure your vacuum levels are correct and the cows are comfortable and give them time to milk out.

Thanks to unusually hot, dry weather, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, in conjunction with the Agency of Natural Resources and Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, is lifting the winter manure spreading ban that is normally in place until April 1st. The regulations in Vermont are strict in terms of when, how, where and timing to incorporate the spread manure in order to prevent runoff and contamination of waterways and water quality.

Manure regulations are a real issue for big farms, unlike micro dairy operations where manure management is extremely easy and low impact. That’s because large commercial dairies usually have manure pits that are full to the brim with liquid manure this time of year, whereas micro dairy manure is almost always handled and spread dry.

The Bob-White Systems research and demonstration micro dairy has a nice little manure pile – black gold – that we are composting for spreading when the ground is dry and the chance for runoff is minimal. We’ll also sell a significant amount of manure for local gardens. As with all things on farmstead, micro and family farms, it’s all about scale and keeping livestock densities to manageable and beneficial levels.

So, spread it if you’ve got it.

The goal of raising calves on a micro dairy is very different than it is on most large commercial dairies. A micro dairy farmer should be able to walk up to one of his or her cows in the pasture, take her by the collar and lead her away:

• · Cows on micro dairies should be well socialized and very easily handled.
• · They should be halter broken AND collar broken.
• · The cows should trust their people and their people should trust them.

Raising Calves With Social Skills

On micro dairies, the first two to three weeks of life are especially critical for a calf’s socialization. If you have a tie stall, we suggest tying them on a short lead to a wall in a safe spot inside the barn close to the cows where they come will into contact with people on a routine basis. Be sure to keep their bedding clean and dry. They should be able to see and hear all the barn activities, and it is important that the calves be handled gently and often by people, even if it is just a quick scratch under the jaw as you walk by.

When possible, tie the calves so they can see the cows eating and drinking. Calves that can will usually begin eating hay and grain much more quickly than calves that cannot see cows eating. If you have a bedded pack or small free-stall, keep the calves as close to other cows and people as you can. We do, however, suggest keeping the calves separated from one another until they are weaned to prevent them from sucking on one another.

How We Start Calves at the Bob-White Systems Barn.

When a calf is born in the maternity pen we’ll keep it in there with its mother until we are sure both are healthy and have recovered from the birthing process – usually no more than two or three days. Then we’ll return the cow to the herd and bring the calf into the barn so it can be socialized. We generally keep the calf tied to the wall (ideally close to its mom), with enough lead so it can lay down comfortably on a soft bed of shavings and hay yet not so much lead that they can become entangled.

While they’re in the barn, our new born calves are fed with a bottle. After two or three weeks they’ll moved to our outside calf pen (which doubles as our maternity pen) and trained to drink from a bucket. Our 12′ x 12′ calf/maternity shed and pen are right beside the driveway so our calves are safely exposed to cars, trucks, tractors etc. Usually there are plenty of people passing by who will stop and give the calves attention as well.

Micro Dairy Training Pen

After a month or two, calves are weaned and moved to our “Training Pen” which is down near our farm house. It is approximately a 1/4 of an acre of well-shaded pasture enclosed by a six-strand electrified high-tensile fence that also serves as a barrier or containment fence. There is a 10’ x10’

run-in shed for the calves in this enclosure as well. Our calves are normally born in late winter and early spring, so they spend much of their first summer in the Training Pen. They’re fed grain twice a day and given a little dry hay to supplement the green grass. Later in the summer, after we are confident that they have a proper respect for a single strand of hot poly-wire, they’re let out with the cows to join the herd and graze.

We have found that we can effectively train calves to respect single strand poly-wire by temporarily fencing off small portions of the training pen with a very “hot” stand of portable poly-wire on fiberglass fence posts. It is important that the strand be hot so the calves learn quickly.

Better Managed Cows, Easier Managed Micro Dairies

Keeping the calves safe and healthy during their socialization process and learning period is extremely important. If you are successful they should become friendly and easily managed cows. But, like people, cows have their own distinctive personalities and some are more easily managed on micro dairies than others.

At Bob-White Systems we don’t hesitate to sell a cow if she is difficult to manage. Life is too short.

South Royalton, VT – The Bob-White Systems Low Impact Pasteurizer (LIP) is a new and revolutionary development in micro dairy and farmstead dairy equipment. The LIP is an advanced and affordable system specifically designed to give small-scale dairies the option of offering safe and delicious pasteurized farm fresh milk directly to their customers.

Advanced dairy technology on a human scale

As the only purpose-built system made specifically for Farmstead, Micro and Homestead Dairies, the Low Impact Pasteurizer was designed from the ground up to give small-scale dairies maximum benefits. Commercial units are not scalable or feasible for micro dairy operations, plus they over process milk in a way that damages the final product. Vat pasteurizers are labor-intensive and require constant attendance and monitoring. The LIP system completely automates most of the pasteurization process, a huge labor and time-saving advantage for farmers compared to vat pasteurization. User interaction with the simple, intuitive interface is minimal, and it incorporates self-cleaning technology that virtually eliminates time-consuming clean up, freeing farmers to do more important things.

According to Steve Judge, President of Bob-White Systems, “Our goal was to develop high- temperature short-time (HTST) technology that’s scaled to four-to-ten cows. The Low Impact Pasteurizer is the result of many thousands of hours of research, development and onsite testing under actual micro dairy conditions. We’ve put six years and over a million dollars into developing an affordable system that eliminates the price barrier to entry and gives small dairy operations the choice of offering pasteurized milk to their local communities.”

Pasteurizing milk, preserving taste

Meeting all standards for safe, effective pasteurization, the Bob-White Systems LIP works by heating every particle of milk to a minimum of 161 degrees and holding it continuously at that temperature for a minimum of 15 seconds. The hot milk then heats the incoming cold milk as it passes through an exchanger on its way to being rapidly cooled back down to 60° F, flowing at one gallon per minute into a small bulk tank, where it is further cooled and stored. States Mr. Judge, “The key to the LIP system is in treating the milk gently. By developing a unit that completely pasteurizes at a slower pace but cools milk rapidly, the LIP ensures the integrity of the farm-fresh milk is not compromised. In terms of taste, it’s as close as you can get to milk straight from the cow and it’s completely safe.”

The Low Impact Pasteurizer system does not homogenize, separate or standardize milk the way commercial units do, safeguarding its nutritional value and delicious farm fresh flavor. And just as important, the system preserves the texture resulting in a product that is ideal for selling directly to consumers or for use in making the highest-quality cheeses, yogurts or other value-added dairy products.

Bringing the Cows Back Home

The patent-pending LIP system is the first pasteurizer that makes it truly possible for small, micro and family farms to offer local customers pasteurized milk. The LIP system gives farmers access to another income stream, especially in those parts of the country that don’t allow raw milk sales. With increasing interest in small scale farming, the LIP is set to reestablish the link between farmers and their customers.

Adds Mr. Judge, “Suddenly, the concept of locally produced, pasteurized safe and delicious farm fresh milk is a reality because with the LIP, now every town, every village can support a microdairy.”

Obviously, the Bob-White Systems Low Impact Pasteurizer is poised to have a huge impact on the future of dairy.

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About Bob-White Systems

Bob-White Systems provides micro dairy and cheese making supplies, equipment, and support for the farmstead, homestead, and small-scale production of local and farm fresh milk and cheese. Located in South Royalton, Vermont, Bob-White Systems is committed to making it possible for every small or rural community to enjoy safe, fresh, and delicious milk produced by local, micro dairy farms.  By designing, equipping, and helping to manage small micro dairy operations, Bob-White Systems reduces dairy start-up and operating costs, helps farmers enjoy more profits, and enables communities to produce and purchase their own local milk. More information is available at bobwhitesystems.com.

Twitter: @FarmsteadDairy       Facebook: Bob-White Systems, Inc.

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“Until today the Low Impact Pasteurizer (LIP) was a sort of mythical machine that I only knew about on paper. As I do the bookkeeping, I am familiar with all the costs, parts, pieces, and time that have gone into the LIP. But it in no way prepared me for how amazing this invention is.

I went up to the barn and Leslie Mann (Bob-White Systems Product Design Specialist) did a great job at explaining all of the components and what exactly they do. Then she handed me the directions and I was on my own to run the LIP for the first time.

This was my first time seeing the completed LIP, let alone having anything to do with running it. I was nervous about having absolutely no farming/dairy experience, and now being responsible for running a pasteurizer. My fears were quickly displaced by excitement. I pasteurized 17 gallons of milk and it was so easy and cool.

I just followed the step-by-step instructions and in about an hour I had the finished product – delicious farm fresh milk. Trust me when I say if I can do this anyone can.”

Interested in learning more about the Low Impact Pasteurizer and the future of micro dairies? Contact Kate or Steve Judge at 802-763-2777.

We have been developing our Low Impact Farmstead Pasteurizer (LIP) for six years now. It started out as a collection of odd pieces of equipment on a wooden table. We built the next prototype on a used restaurant cart. It worked well but it took an army to run it and we had to clean everything by hand. A couple of years later the unit was sitting proud on a stainless steel frame. It still worked well, and it still took an army to run, but it had its own automatic cleaning system.

We were making progress, but we couldn’t rest yet. We had to make it even better. It needed to be fail safe and completely user friendly.

On Friday morning, November 4th I pasteurized 14 gallons of milk with our new LIP at our research dairy facility in Royalton, Vermont. It is the final prototype of the LIP that we plan to bring to market once we receive the necessary approvals to do so. I am pleased to say that our LIP works flawlessly and is very easy to operate.

I simply pushed the green start button and it went into the test mode to make sure that all the components and valves were working properly. Everything was documented on the LIP’s chart recorder. When the test phase was done, I switched the knob to sanitize and pushed the green start button again to sanitize the system with hot water. A few minutes later that phase was done and I was ready to pasteurize milk at one gallon per minute. Fourteen minutes later all the milk was pasteurized. It had gently exited the LIP at a cool 65 degrees F and was sitting in the cooler where it was quickly chilled to 40 degrees F.

To complete the run, I rinsed our LIP with cool clean water, hooked it up to the automatic washing system, turned the knob to wash and pushed the green start button for the final phase. The entire process from test mode to cleaning took about one hour. No fuss, no muss.

We’ve come a long way since our humble beginnings, and we can’t wait to start selling our Low Impact Pasteurizers. Just a few more tests and a couple of tweaks to go and it will be ready to start shipping first quarter of 2012.

Anyone interested in placing a pre-order or inquiring about costs and shipping dates is encouraged to contact Steve Judge at 802-763-2777. For media and press enquiries, contact Kate Pierson at 802-763-2777 or pierson.bws@gmail.com

South Royalton, VT – The Bob-White Systems Low Impact Pasteurizer (LIP) is a new and revolutionary development in micro dairy and farmstead dairy equipment. The LIP is an advanced and affordable system specifically designed to give small-scale dairies the option of offering safe and delicious pasteurized farm fresh milk directly to their customers.

Advanced dairy technology on a human scale

As the only purpose-built system made specifically for Farmstead, Micro and Homestead Dairies, the Low Impact Pasteurizer was designed from the ground up to give small-scale dairies maximum benefits. Commercial units are not scalable or feasible for micro dairy operations, plus they over process milk in a way that damages the final product. Vat pasteurizers are labor-intensive and require constant attendance and monitoring. The LIP system
completely automates most of the pasteurization process, a huge labor and time-saving advantage for farmers compared to vat pasteurization. User
interaction with the simple, intuitive interface is minimal, and it incorporates self-cleaning technology that virtually eliminates time-consuming clean up, freeing farmers to do more important things.

According to Steve Judge, President of Bob-White Systems, “Our goal was to develop high- temperature short-time (HTST) technology that’s scaled to four-to-ten cows. The Low Impact Pasteurizer is the result of many thousands of hours of research, development and onsite testing under actual micro dairy conditions. We’ve put six years and over a million dollars into developing an affordable system that eliminates the price barrier to entry and gives small dairy operations the choice of offering pasteurized milk to their local communities.”

Pasteurizing milk, preserving taste

Meeting all standards for safe, effective pasteurization, the Bob-White Systems LIP works by heating every particle of milk to a minimum of 161 degrees
and holding it continuously at that temperature for a minimum of 15 seconds. The hot milk then heats the incoming cold milk as it passes through an exchanger on its way to being rapidly cooled back down to 60° F, flowing at one gallon per minute into a small bulk tank, where it is further cooled and stored. States Mr. Judge, “The key to the LIP system is in treating the milk gently. By developing a unit that completely pasteurizes at a slower pace but cools milk rapidly, the LIP ensures the integrity of the farm-fresh milk is not compromised. In terms of taste, it’s as close as you can get to milk straight
from the cow and it’s completely safe.”

The Low Impact Pasteurizer system does not homogenize, separate or standardize milk the way commercial units do, safeguarding its nutritional
value and delicious farm fresh flavor. And just as important, the system preserves the texture resulting in a product that is ideal for selling directly
to consumers or for use in making the highest-quality cheeses, yogurts or other value-added dairy products.

Bringing the Cows Back Home

The patent-pending LIP system is the first pasteurizer that makes it truly possible for small, micro and family farms to offer local customers pasteurized
milk. The LIP system gives farmers access to another income stream, especially in those parts of the country that don’t allow raw milk sales. With increasing
interest in small scale farming, the LIP is set to reestablish the link between farmers and their customers.

Adds Mr. Judge, “Suddenly, the concept of locally produced, pasteurized safe and delicious farm fresh milk is a reality because with the LIP, now every
town, every village can support a microdairy.”

Obviously, the Bob-White Systems Low Impact Pasteurizer is poised to have a huge impact on the future of dairy.

###

About Bob-White Systems

Bob-White Systems provides micro dairy and cheese making supplies, equipment, and support for the farmstead, homestead, and small-scale production of local and farm fresh milk and cheese. Located in South Royalton, Vermont, Bob-White Systems is committed to making it possible for every small or rural community to enjoy safe, fresh, and delicious milk produced by local, micro dairy farms.  By designing, equipping, and helping to manage small micro dairy operations, Bob-White Systems reduces dairy start-up and operating costs, helps farmers enjoy more profits, and enables communities to produce and purchase their own local milk. More information is available at bobwhitesystems.com.

Twitter: @FarmsteadDairy       Facebook: Bob-White Systems, Inc.

On August 22nd, Rural Vermont a community of family farmers, neighbors and citizens committed to supporting and cultivating a vital and healthy rural economy and community, came to South Royalton, Vermont to hold one of their Cow to Consumer workshops. Bob-White Systems, a micro dairy and cheese making equipment supplier, hosted the event at the company’s dairy barn where a tour of the facility and its equipment was given. The beautiful summer weather provided a great outdoor setting for Rural Vermont’s, Shelby Girard and Robb Kidd to talk about the regulations regarding the operation of a raw milk dairy and the sale of raw milk.

Bob-White Systems’ manager, Steven Judge spoke of the benefits of micro dairies and how their small scale, efficiency, and profitability can provide farmers a supplemental income that compliments their lifestyle. Micro dairies are a farm generally consisting of 10 or less cows or the equivalent of sheep, goats, etc. The guests of the workshop also received tips regarding livestock management, equipment function, and building a micro dairy from the ground up.

The staff of Bob-White Systems always enjoys working with and learning from the folks at Rural Vermont  We look forward to strengthening that relationship  in the future by promoting and facilitating the local production of safe and delicious farm-fresh milk.  Thank you Rural Vermont!

Equipment at Bob-White Systems

Bob-White Systems still proudly offers the same high quality personal customer service that we always have.  Customers with questions, concerns or simply seeking advice can call or stop in our office and store at 228 Chelsea Street in South Royalton, VT  802-763-2777.  We even offer milking lessons at our four cow micro dairy in Royalton Village.

“Bringing the cows back home.”

Kate Pierson has been named the full time Office Manager at the Bob-White Systems South Royalton Storefront responsible for managing the office and sales of micro dairy and cheese making supplies and equipment. Pierson was previously an event coordinator at the Three Stallion Inn in Randolph. She resides in Royalton.

Simon Leavitt has been named Design Engineer and will be responsible for designing and testing micro dairy milk handling and processing equipment as Bob-White Systems nears completion of their revolutionary low impact milk pasteurization equipment. Leavitt was previously with ReKnew Energy Systems as a solar engineer and site installer. He resides in Royalton.

Bob-White Systems is bringing the cows back home by creating the technology, manufacturing the equipment, and generating the knowledge for the local, farmstead, and homestead production of pure, farm fresh milk.  Located in South Royalton, Vermont, Bob-White Systems is committed to making it possible for every small or rural community to enjoy safe, fresh, and delicious milk produced by local, micro dairy farms.  By designing, equipping, and helping to manage small micro dairy operations, Bob-White Systems reduces dairy start-up and operating costs, helps farmers enjoy more profits, and enables communities to produce and purchase their own local milk.  Bob-White Systems recently introduced a hand-selected line of cheese making supplies and equipment to facilitate farmstead and homestead cheese making as a critical component of efficient and diverse small-scale dairies.  More information is available at www.bobwhitesystems.com.