Milking frequency management in pasture-based automatic milking systems: A review

Abstract

The integration of automatic milking systems (AMS) with pasture-based dairy farming creates a new spectrum of challenges, different to those of indoor-based feeding systems. In order to formulate the correct research questions in areas that are likely to have the highest impact, there is a need to identify gaps within existing knowledge. Therefore, the objective of this review was to bring together, analyse and summarise relevant scientific literature from studies conducted in pasture-based AMS. The focus was placed on describing different animal, feed and management-related factors and their influence on milking interval (MI) and milking frequency (MF). The analysis of 21 studies in the literature in which AMS was combined with variable levels of grazing, indicated a wide data range in variables such as access time to pasture, distance to pasture, cows/milking unit, number of fetchings performed per day, minimum MI setting as well as MI, MF and milk yield achieved. Furthermore, the analysis showed that variability in MI and MF was present both between and within cows and farming systems. In general, pasture-based AMS cows appear to achieve lower MF than indoor-based feeding AMS cows with different access times to grazing, but there were no studies on the actual impact of different MI and MF on milk yield in pasture-based AMS cows. The lower MF of pasture-based AMS cows appeared to be associated with lower levels of cow traffic when AMS was combined with grazing, which highlights the need to test alternative management practices that could potentially increase cow traffic. Changes in frequency and location of feed incentives were identified as areas where further research is required. Overall, this review has identified key aspects of pasture-based AMS that should be taken into account to modify management strategies in these systems, with the aim of optimising MF and system utilisation.