Switching to three-times-a-day milking and making the system fully housed has increased milk yield in a Pembrokeshire dairy herd – but labour availability is key to making it work.

The George family run two high yielding pedigree Holstein herds at Wolfscastle where average milk yield per cow has been increased by 2,000 litres, to 13,000 litres, through the new milking and housing regime, helped too by genetics and improved fertility and nutrition management.

Michael runs the herd at Brynhyfryd with his wife, Jill, and their youngest son, Charles, while the second herd, at nearby Sealyham Farm, is run by his brother and sister-in-law, Rowland and Sharon, and Michael and Jill’s eldest son, James.

James and Charles are responsible for the day-to-day management of the herds.

Continuous housing and frequent milking suits the high-performing Holstein cow that the Georges are renowned for.

They increased milking frequency after seeing it operating successfully on other farms.

Genetics was instrumental in allowing them to make the switch.

“The potential of the dairy cow is now much higher, milk yield has vastly improved,’’ says Michael.

“We have utilised genetics, our cows have the ability to produce high volumes of milk. On a high input system, milking more frequently will give you more milk.’’

That is particularly true of heifers that are milked three times a day, he adds.

“Heifers have smaller udders than cows so have less capacity to carry milk so the more often they are milked the more milk they can produce in a day.’’

It is good for cow health and welfare too, Michael suggests.

“There is less pressure on cows because they are carrying less milk, and that means less udder health challenges.’’

Another benefit of frequent milking is that there are three opportunities to observe the cows every day, and that is good for cow welfare too.

“There is always someone on duty, we see the cows more than we did when we were milking twice, and there are always people around at calving,’’ says Michael.

On the flip side, labour can be a major challenge and is the reason why many dairy farms are now abandoning three-times-a-day milking.

The Georges employ 20 full-time staff and five part-timers, a blend of local and overseas workers.

“The sustainability of the system all comes down to labour,’’ says Michael.

“Getting good staff to make it work is the biggest difficulty and for many that is where it ends, when you can’t get the right type of staff and run out of labour options.’’

At Brynhyfryd and Sealyham, most workers milk one shift a day, and never more than two.

The Georges value their staff and make every effort to retain them.

“We have a good relationship with our staff, they have well paid jobs and conditions are good. Gone are the days when agricultural work was low paid,’’ says Michael.

Cost of production is inevitably higher with more frequent milking – Michael calculates that labour and electricity costs are both 50 per cent more expensive.

Each farm has a 100kW solar systems to meet their energy needs.

Feed costs are higher too – cows that produce more milk need more nutrition.

“To realise the potential of milking more often you need to feed the cow, to manage her, to milk her, and above all, welfare must top everything,’’ says Michael.

The higher cost of production is the reason why scale is needed to make three-times-a-day milking sustainable, he reckons.

At both farms, milking starts at 3.30am, 11.30am and 7.30pm, with cows milked through 40:40 herringbone parlours.

The cows are run in groups, according to lactation, to minimise the length of time they stand during the milking period.

At Brynhyfryd, each milking takes six hours and there are six groups which means that each cow only stands for an hour.

Three-times-a-day has worked well for the George family but what does Michael envisage is the future for others with this system?

“In the next year it will have to end for many because of labour shortages and that will be a disadvantage because businesses will be less profitable.’’

And his advice to other farmers considering three-times-a-day?

“It is not the best time to start at the moment because of the labour issue, when labour becomes more plentiful it is definitely a good option.

“And the turnaround of cows at each milking is important, you need a system that runs very quickly to limit the stress on cows.’’