Once-a-Day Milking

For over 60 years, folks passing by the farm in the wee hours of the morning or early evenings would see lights on in the barn and hear our milking machines pumping away. This changed last March, when we switched to milking once-a-day.

Why would we switch to milking once-a-day after so many decades of milking twice-a-day? When we talked with other dairy farmers who made the switch, we learned what to expect: a 20% drop in overall production (volume) of milk, but a significant jump in “solids” aka fat and protein. If we were dealing in fluid milk, the drop in production could be a rough hit… however, as cheesemakers we live for those solids! Plus, it can be tricky finding folks who want to start work at 3:30am and/or be leaving the barn at 7pm.

So we decided to give it a go - last March, when our milking cows were at the lowest stage of their milk production, we made the shift. During the transition we kept a close eye on the cows, making sure they were handling shift without any udder health issues or discomfort. After a couple of weeks, they were beautifully transitioned and in a groove with their new milking schedule.

For any small business, it takes time to see the long-term impact of a big change like this. So far, we’re feeling good about the impact this has had on our farm team’s simplified evening chores, the lack of impact on our cow’s health, and the continued high quality of our products.