Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.09.1981, Page 24

Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.09.1981, Page 24
22 ÍSLENZKAR LANDBÚNAÐARRANNSÓKNIR SUMMARY This article deals with an investigation into the work involved with milking. A comparison is made between two milking systems; a traditional cubicle system and a milking parlour system. Time studies show that the milking process takes more than half the total time involved with dairy farming. For ex- ample, with a herd of 30 milking cows, the milking operation would take the equiv- alent of 80% of a dairyman’s normal working year assuming that he worked no overtime. Foreign investigations on working en- vironment and work stress have shown that working load on the dairyman is considerably greater while using a cubicle milking system. The dairyman’s oxygen uptake while working in a cubicle milking system is on average 60% higher than that while milking in a parlour, and his heart beat frequency increases from 85/min to 110/min. In addition the distance walked by the dairyman during milking increases from 6 metres/cow using the parlour sys- tem to 17 metres/cow while he uses the cubicle system. Both Icelandic and foreign results show that there is no significant difference in milk bacterial counts according to the milking system used. On the other hand, bacterial contamination seems to be re- lated to hay quality, feeding time and gen- eral cleanliness. Results of the time studies show that when 40 cows are milked, the work in- volved is similar regardless of whether a cubicle or a parlour milking system is used. With a milking herd of less than 40, the work requirement is greater when a parlour system is used, but above 40 cows the cubicle system involves relatively more work. On average about 70% og the total milking time in a parlour system is actually spent milking whereas in a cu- bicle system this proportion increases to 80%. In general terms, the cost of establish- ing a milking parlour system is approx- imately three times that of a cubicle milk- ing system. It is therefore likely that when the choice is between these two milking systems, the decision would be based on the relatively better working conditions in a parlour system on the one hand, and the lower costs involved with the cubicle sys- tem on the other hand. To equate these two factors, this paper evaluates improved working conditions in terms of working hours. It can be hypo- thesised that the dairyman works at a low- er rate ofpay in better working conditions so that the cost of milking is the same with both systems. With a herd of 20 milking cows, this hypothetical difference in hourly pay is 24-25% with 40 cows, the difference is 11-14%:, and with 60 cows the difference is 6-8%. In addition to these factors, there are several disadvantages with both systems, but consideration of these has the effect of reducing the relative cost differences between systems.

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