Smart ways to reduce milking times

Summary •� Recent research on raising the threshold setting for automatic cup removers (ACR) or setting a maximum time limit for milking slow cows has opened up new possibilities for milking herds more quickly, with no apparent adverse effects. •� The aim should be to milk most cows as completely as possible, within a reasonable time, at every milking. •� These guidelines apply only to herds with a somatic cell count (SCC) below 200,000 cells/ml. •� Increasing the ACR take-off setting from 0.2 to 0.4kg/min will reduce cow milking duration by around 10%.