Grazing
Gazette
penn;
ESS Col1Ǥe of Africultunl Science*
m cooperation with USDA/ARS
new ZEALAND MILKING
PARLORS
Stephen B. Spencer
Professor Emeritus
Dairy Science
Penn State University
The subject of the New Zealand
milking parlor is being debated.
Generally, these parlors are con
sidered low-cost facilities com
pared to the more expensive types
in the United States. Let’s examine
some of the differences and com
pare the costs.
First of all, just what is a New
Zealand parlor? Didn’t the designs
Oakhaven Rood
Fleetwood, PA 19522
610-683-7161
AH-00073L
CHRISTMAS TREE 8
GREENS AUCTIONS
Tuesdays
Nov. 21,28, Dec. 5,12.
AT 11:00 A.M.
Accepting Consignments of: 4
TREES (Fresh Cut, B&B), Bundled Greens, Holly,
Pine Cones, WREATHES (Plain & Finished), Hol
iday Logs, Roping, Etc.
POINSETTIAS - Christmas Cactus, Etc. Sold in
our Heated Warehouse.
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - 2 Large Inflat
able Snowmen (to be sold Nov. 21st), Commercial
Decor* Light Sets, Tree Lot Items, Wreath Making
Materials.
CRAFTS - Locally Made Crafts - Wooden Toys,
Painted Items, Floral Arrangements, etc.
CONSIGNMENT
AUCTION
FRIDAY, DEC. Ist
AT 9:30 AM
Accepting Consignments of:
FARM EQUIPMENT, LAWN & GARDEN,
TOOLS, BUILDING MATERIALS, HOUSE
HOLD GOODS, ETC.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT: Tires, Upholstered Fur
niture, Poultry Equipment, Used Glass Windows
CALL FOR MORE DETAILS
CENTRAL PA. CONTRACTORS’
AUCTION
GETTYSBURG, PR
Fiiday, Decambar 18, 1998
at 10:00 a.m.
DIRECTIONS: From Rt. 15, Take Hunterstown Exit (Rt. 394 - East).
From 394 East, Make Ist Right onto Martin Rd. Sale site is Ist
lane on left.
PARTIAL LISTING ONLY
WILL BE SELLING: Crawler Loaders & Dozers; Loader Backhoes; Rubber
Tire Loaders; Skid Steer Loaders; Forklifts; Air Compressors; Farm Trac
tors; Road Tractors; Dump Trucks; Cab & Chassis; Pickups & Cars;
Flatbeds; Dump Trailers; Equipment Tagalongs; Lowboys; Storage; & Many
misc. Contractors’ Tools Too Numerous to Mention.
CONSIGNMENTS STILL BEING ACCEPTED
TERMS OF SALE: Complete Payment Sale Day with Cash or Cashiers
Check. Company or Personal Checks accepted only if accompanied by a
VALID BANK LETTER OF GUARANTEED PAYMENT.
FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS OR TO CONSION
. PLEASE CONTACT:
_ I-000-440-0000 Of 004-0000 (Within 09tty9bnfO Ini)
M m INDUSTRIAL AUCTIONS, INC.
(800)443-9580 »(717) 334-0066
SBS Martin Hoad, Gettysburg, 17325
VA A,F #129 VA DLR #8929
in the U.S. come from New Zea
land? The answer to the latter
question is “yes,” but with some
modifications along the way.
The New Zealand parlor does
have some different characteristics
than those in the U.S., for some
obvious and not so obvious rea
sons. First and foremost there is a
difference in climate. The climate
is very moderate in New Zealand
and the temperature seldom gets
below freezing. Thus, New-Zea-
FRI.NOV.-ir* SAT. NOV.
18 - 9AM Martino FaX Auc
tion of Carriagoo, Slalgha &
Antiques. Lebanon Area
Fairgrouns. 2 miles S. of
Lab., Pa. approx. 30 miles
E. of Harrisbura, approx. 15
miles E. of Harshay,
approX. 20 miles N. of
time. South of interstate
Rt 81 and 25 miles W. of
Reading, Pa Martin Auota.
FRI. NOV. 17* SAT. NOV.
18 -10 AM Complete Dis
persal Auction, top regis
tered Jersey cattle, great
machinery, real estate.
From Binghamton take 17
W. to exit 63 (Lounsberry)
left off exit then right on
Hunt Creek Rd. across
from truck stop. Deppoliti's
Northeast Auction Center.
SAT. NOV. 18 - 9AM
Nicholes Hardware Store,
Park Ave., Quakertown,
Pa. Inventory, store fix
tures, trucks, forklifts.
Joseph P. Smalley, auct
SAT. NOV. 18- 9AM
November Consignment
Auction, Tools and Equip
ment. Isennock Auctions,
New Park, Pa. Isennock,
land parlors do not have outside
walls or heating/cooling systems.
There is no insulation in the ceiling
and construction is often steel pipe
supports for galvanized roofing
material
In addition, the climate in New
Zealand is conducive to growing
grass. There is not much argument
that grass pastures provide a low
cost feeding system. In the U.S.,
the weather is more variable. In the
northern dairy areas, winters are
cold and the summers sometimes
hot and dry. ~
In the major dairy areas of
southwest U.S., most dairy ani
mals have never seen a blade of
grass in their lifetime. In short, the
majority of the U.S. is on a stored
or processed feeding system,
although this has changed in recent
years as pasture use has increased.
The second major difference
Public Auction Register
Closing Date Monday 5:00 P.M.
of each week’a publication
NOVEMBER
aucts
SAT. NOV. IS- 9AM Leba
non Valley Live*took Lum
ber and Building Supply
Sate. 1 mile E. of Freder
icksburg, Pa. More info call
Dave 717-866-5783.
SAT. NOV. 18 - 9:45 AM
Repossession Sale.
Approx. 225 repos & off
lease vehicles. Keystone
Public Auto Exchange.
FBI. NOV. 24- SPM Held at
Kenny’s Auction, 4 miles N.
of Chambersburg along Rt.
11. Furniture, paintings,
guns, misc. Mildred E. Oyl
er. Carl E. Oekor, auct
FRI. NOV. 24 - 9AM At
Wotring Auction center,
Lehigh Co., Pa. on Rt 873,
4.1 miles N. of the Y with
309 at SchnecksvHle, N. of
Allentown, Just S. of Sla
tington. +Horse sleighs, veh
icles, tack, primitives, farm
equip. Tim wotring. auct.
SAT. NOV. 2$ - 9AM Anti
ques, elect, oraan, collecti
bles & household goods.
Estate of Ruth H. Blizzard,
17 Kemper Ave. in the city
of Westminster, Md. Calvin
L. Am oca, auct.
Uncmar Farming, Saturday, November 18, 1995-A35
between the U.S. and New Zealand
is markets. New Zealand has about
3 million people and 2.5 million
cows. Thus, they produce milk for
the world market at a lower price.
Lower pricing forces the dairy far
mer to economize in every possi
ble manner. Most U.S. dairy far
mers would argue that margins are
low to nonexistent in the U.S. That
may be true today, but it has not
always been. Contrast this to the
U.S., which has less than 10 mil
lion cows and more than 260 mil
lion people.
The combination of markets and
climate lends itself to seasonal
dairy fanning in New Zealand.
Most herds calve their cows in the
spring and dry them off in the win
ter when feed supplies are short.
This also relates to the type of con
struction in milking parlors since
with seasonal calving, the parlors
ate not operated during the winter
months when the weather is cool.
(Remember that the seasons in
New Zealand are just the opposite
of those in the U.S.)
Milking Parlor
Back to the milking parlor. We
have mentioned a major construc
tion difference between milking
parlors in New Zealand and the
U.S. Milking parlors in the south
ern climates could do without
walls, but usually have them any
way. In some of those areas, the
walls may be there because of
wind. This can be a problem, espe
cially in dry, sandy conditions.
The next area of difference
between the U.S. and New Zealand
parlors is the milking system. Typ
ically, the New Zealand parlor is of
the herringbone type and has the
milking units mounted in the cen
ter. Generally, these arc referred to
as “swinging” units, that is, they
are swung from one side of the par
lor to the other side. Thus, there is
one milking unit to every two
stalls. Milking parlors in the U.S.
were like this until the 19605. Prior
to the 19605, many milking parlors
that had been built were toa small
so there was an attempt to speed up
the cow throughput. While dou
bling the number of units only
increases cow throughput by IS to
20 percent, the investment in units
and a slightly larger vacuum pump
is a one-time investmenL In terms
of vacuum supply, many U.S. par
lors are far oversized while many
New Zealand systems are marginal
in this respect. This also accounts
for a cost difference.
Additionally, there was a desire
for low pipelines in the U.S. since
high lines were thought to be asso
ciated with mastitis because of
greater vacuum fluctuation. This is
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still not documented by controlled
research, but the idea persists. It is
very inconvenient to milk in a par
lor and have to move the milk hose
from side to side and to milk into a
low line. This fact is documented
and installing a low line to minim
ize the risk of rancid milk has
merit
Another interesting sidelight is
that it appears that cows fed stored
feed may have a tendency for their
milk to be more susceptible to ran
cidity development than the milk
from cows on grass. We have
noted many times that a rancid
milk problem disappears when
cows arc turned out to grass in the
U.S.
In summary, the following
advantages of New Zealand type
and U.S. types of milking parlors
are as follows:
Advantages of a New Zealand*
style parlor:
1. Installing one unit per two
stalls reduces the cost of the milk
ing system.
2. Omission of ancillary equip
ment such as power gates, de
tachers, and meters makes a milk
ing parlor more affordable.
3. Climate affords the opportun
ity to have a less expensive
building.
4. Seasonal calving reduces
milking time variability and milk.-
ing times are shorter and more
consistent ,
Advantages of a U.S.-style
parlor:
1. A milking unit per stall
increases cow throughtput by
15-20 percent This is a one-time
cost and this additional cost is not
excessive since the basic expen
sive equipment is already in place.
2. A unit per stall permits the
installation of a lowline pipeline.
Thus, vacuum is more stable and
the risk of rancid milk is reduced.
3. A unit at each stall permits the
immediate placement of a unit on a
slow milking cow which otherwise
may hold up the entire group of
cows in the herringbone stalls.
4. Construction methods permit
the year-round use of the milking
parlor.
In the building of a milking par
lor, there are many decisions to
make. Choosing the proper equip
ment for the individual needs is
paramount. Choosing some fea
tures of a New Zealand parlor is
another choice in the shopping
basket
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