How to achieve a greater work-life balance through reduced milking frequency

Dairy farmer, Aidan Ahearne, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the practical implementation of 10 in 7 milking frequency on his farm and the benefits to work-life balance and animal welfare with minimal impact on milk production. Aidan explains that he tried 10 in 7 milking frequency from October last year with good success but based on research, he started from mid-July this year.  When considering production, milk solids was the same in August of this year compared to last year but dropped by 8% in the month of September. Aidan speculates that this is partially due to reduced milking frequency but also says that lower meal feeding rates and adverse weather played a part. Aidan emphasises the impact of reducing milking to 10 in 7 improves work life balance, as you are eliminating 16 milkings per month or 64 milkings from August to November. He explains this is at a time when you can get tired and stale from the tasks of daily milking routines.  Fundamentally, Aidan considers 10 in 7 as a vehicle to support work-life balance and allows him more free time with his young family and for interests outside of farming. He thinks it is a no-brainer for many farms. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/ The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com