A new tool to improve milk quality standards has recently been developed at Teagasc, Moorepark and will be launched officially next week at its Milk Quality Conference in Tipperary.

Speaking to AgriLand this afternoon, Teagasc dairy specialist Tom O’Dwyer, said this new digital platform is a key communicator to stress the importance of milk quality for dairy farmers.

“Some 85 per cent of the milk produced in Ireland is exported and a significant amount of that is included in infant milk by processors. The milk quality requirement here is very high and more focus and attention in a quality product is needed, now more so than in the past. Good quality is demanded by the market now.”

The toolset comprises a series of video clips showing critical stages of the milking process and provides guidelines and recommendations for the production of high-quality milk.

The user-friendly tools provide valuable information on all aspects of quality milk production, for example TBC, SCC and residues. Specific topics addressed include: milking management on smaller (12 unit parlour) and larger (24 unit parlour) farms; and milking management on farms with adequate labour, two-people milking, and those with some automation, automatic cluster removers and cluster flushing.

O’Dwyer also paid tribute to this new digital platform for Teagasc to get its communicate its advice. “It’s a new medium for dairy farmers. Time is precious, so instead of attending a demonstration or reading a manual, you can watch the toolset on Youtube.”

The tool will also be of benefit to milk quality advisors, veterinarians and milking machine manufacturers.

The project is in collaboration with Animal Health Ireland and is available here

AgriLand will be reporting live from the Milk Quality Conference next week.