Milk pricing and test

vCow · Sep 29, 2020

Hello Everyone,

I'm interested in milk hauling solutions in Europe & US! So, i do have some question might seem primitive.

The hauling truck collect from several farm tanks until it reach to the dairy plant, if one of these farm tanks has a high SCC would not that affect the other farms' collected milk? can the plant dump the collected milk?

I assume the driver test the milk at the farm gate, right? if a high SCC was found, should he dump this milk or let the farmer do it?

One more question, how the farmer get paid for above/below the limit of fat & protein? do you get incentives?

Will Blackburn · Sep 30, 2020

vCow said:
Hello Everyone,

I'm interested in milk hauling solutions in Europe & US! So, i do have some question might seem primitive.

The hauling truck collect from several farm tanks until it reach to the dairy plant, if one of these farm tanks has a high SCC would not that affect the other farms' collected milk? can the plant dump the collected milk?

I assume the driver test the milk at the farm gate, right? if a high SCC was found, should he dump this milk or let the farmer do it?

One more question, how the farmer get paid for above/below the limit of fat & protein? do you get incentives?

Generally milk is only sampled on farm not tested.
There are bottom limits for acceptable fat and protein, some contracts pay bonuses for all “excess” solids some pay limited bonuses for solids within certain boundaries.

vCow · Sep 30, 2020

Will Blackburn said:
Generally milk is only sampled on farm not tested.
There are bottom limits for acceptable fat and protein, some contracts pay bonuses for all “excess” solids some pay limited bonuses for solids within certain boundaries.

Thanks! It makes me wonder about the high SCC "exceeding the limits", should not the hauler be sure that the farm milk did not exceed the limit, otherwise it would mix with others' milk

Ballygreenan · Sep 30, 2020

vCow said:
Thanks! It makes me wonder about the high SCC "exceeding the limits", should not the hauler be sure that the farm milk did not exceed the limit, otherwise it would mix with others' milk

SCC is monitored regularly. Trends can be seen easily as it either rises or falls. Clinical cases are separated (dumped in our case) and treated until cleared up.

vCow · Sep 30, 2020

Ballygreenan said:
SCC is monitored regularly. Trends can be seen easily as it either rises or falls. Clinical cases are separated (dumped in our case) and treated until cleared up.

If there is a solution to monitor your tank SCC, fat & Protein, would that help you improve your pricing by few cents "bonus" or lower the frequency of SCC monitoring "save costs"

farmerdan7618 · Sep 30, 2020

vCow said:
If there is a solution to monitor your tank SCC, fat & Protein, would that help you improve your pricing by few cents "bonus" or lower the frequency of SCC monitoring "save costs"

It's too late once it's in the tank, as you can't treat the tank, and whole herd treatment would be a disaster for both antibiotic resistance and cost.

The sampling method from the tank is adequate when the tank is well within the bonus parameters, and if it is tight on the bonus parameters then a look to which cows are causing it is needed. There are various options for this from full herd lab testing, to in line conductivity in order to find the culprit.

Wild spikes in tank SCC levels will be clinical mastitis, and is usually visible to the eye and the testing need turns to which strain is the cause, rather than whether it is present.

vCow · Sep 30, 2020

farmerdan7618 said:
It's too late once it's in the tank, as you can't treat the tank, and whole herd treatment would be a disaster for both antibiotic resistance and cost.

The sampling method from the tank is adequate when the tank is well within the bonus parameters, and if it is tight on the bonus parameters then a look to which cows are causing it is needed. There are various options for this from full herd lab testing, to in line conductivity in order to find the culprit.

Wild spikes in tank SCC levels will be clinical mastitis, and is usually visible to the eye and the testing need turns to which strain is the cause, rather than whether it is present.

Totally correct. I'm aware of the in-line solutions yet try to find something quite inexpensive, would be there compromises definitely. Lab test is expensive, specially if it is frequent and done for the whole herd, is not it?

Further think of placing one unit at the receiver tank and one at the bulk tank, this would narrow the search for the culprit, not per cow but per the group milking.

Through your comment i understand that SCC would not matter either per receiver or bulk, but fat & protein could be interesting for farms within the bonus parameters, right?

Boysground · Sep 30, 2020

With a relatively high yeilding herd we do tend to have periods of low fat. I just ask for daily testing for a week so we can see quickly the effect of any diet changes. I just checked and last time it cost £1.64 a day. I’ve done it twice this year so I’m not sure any on farm equipment would be better value for money

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vCow · Sep 30, 2020

Boysground said:
With a relatively high yeilding herd we do tend to have periods of low fat. I just ask for daily testing for a week so we can see quickly the effect of any diet changes. I just checked and last time it cost £1.64 a day. I’ve done it twice this year so I’m not sure any on farm equipment would be better value for money

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Nice point, £1.64 per sample, not for several samples. Although i understand it make sense to test the whole milk not per cow since you won't customize special diet for every group, right?

In case of having two tanks, would it make sense to have a two way valve to switch any coming milk from the receiver with low fat to the second tank?

Fergieman · Sep 30, 2020

So have you developed the unit to attach to either reciever or bulk tank and if so what will it tell us and how much will it cost?

Boysground · Sep 30, 2020

Thats a bulk test. Monthly record anyway which is enough for individual cows. No point in testing and putting milk in different tanks as would still only be paid on average. I only have 1 tank anyway

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vCow · Sep 30, 2020

Fergieman said:
So have you developed the unit to attach to either reciever or bulk tank and if so what will it tell us and how much will it cost?

The same concept apply for bulk tank could work for the receiver, you could even install it at the receiver only. I try to reach as viable model as possible for the majority, some could be interested in SCC others would focus on solids as it appears.. price point is not set yet but i'm confident we could achieve acceptable price.

upnortheast · Sep 30, 2020

For clarity @vCow , are you a livestock farmer or a developer and seller of diagnostic kit ?

buffalo_soldier · Sep 30, 2020

I hope this is a college project, as I can't see it being a commercial idea.

As has already been said several times, bulk tank testing is well established in the UK and abroad.
The test covers more than you are proposing also.
It's cost is literally buttons and it would be unlikely to stop wether a farm had one of these devices or not. So rendering it's purchase pointless.

Perhaps further afield in a developing country it might be a goer, who knows.

If you want an idea, look at it it's possible to remove some of the water content in milk at farm level. Save millions in haulage that way.

Princess Pooper · Sep 30, 2020

Due to the tight penalty bands operated by most milk buyers for high bulk SCC, as well as the legal limits, most people jump on a problem pretty quickly, especially where either they or their milk buyer pay for testing every pickup.

vCow · Sep 30, 2020

Princess Pooper said:
Due to the tight penalty bands operated by most milk buyers for high bulk SCC, as well as the legal limits, most people jump on a problem pretty quickly, especially where either they or their milk buyer pay for testing every pickup.

I understand this point and have seen such conflict before. during the supply chain there is several elements to suspect, problem with the farm tank, problem with the hauler tank or even the dairy lab device need re-calibration.

Probably the real time solution i'm suggesting could be more convenient for the hauler tank to assure the farmer that his milk would be lively monitored during its road trip.

kiwi pom · Sep 30, 2020

buffalo_soldier said:
I hope this is a college project, as I can't see it being a commercial idea.

As has already been said several times, bulk tank testing is well established in the UK and abroad.
The test covers more than you are proposing also.
It's cost is literally buttons and it would be unlikely to stop wether a farm had one of these devices or not. So rendering it's purchase pointless.

Perhaps further afield in a developing country it might be a goer, who knows.

If you want an idea, look at it it's possible to remove some of the water content in milk at farm level. Save millions in haulage that way.

Slightly off topic but Fonterra has an RO plant in north Canterbury, the idea being to service the area with a few collection tankers, take the water out, then line haul it to the main factory. It's been going since 2007, not sure its the answer though as it gives problems at the processing end.
They've moved on to transfer stations, same principal regarding transport but the milk stays whole.
No idea which of the 2 ways is the most expensive.

Milk pricing and test

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