Here you’ll find common milk smell and flavour issues, what causes them, and simple ways to identify and prevent them on farm.
Summary:
Freezing point is an indication of the concentration of water in the milk so a freezing point downgrade occurs when excess water is found in raw milk.
Downgrade support
Freezing points are monitored on a daily basis through the ‘combifos’ test which is an estimate and is confirmed with a cryoscope which gives an accurate result.
If your results are elevated you should immediately carry out a plant check, looking specifically at the plate cooler, wash and milking routines.
What to look for:
- Not fully draining wash water from the milking plant
- Using water to flush the last of the milk into the vat
- Incorrect plate cooler set up or a damaged plate cooler
- Perished milk cooler seals
- Putting milking cups on jetters while cows are still being milked
Preventing freezing point downgrades
Early intervention is the best way for you to prevent freezing point downgrades.
If you receive an alert or downgrade, you should:
- Check that the plant and vats are fully drained
- Discard the first 20 litres: 10 litres from the filter and 10 litres from the vat inlet (bigger plants may need to discard 100 litres) at the start of milking to ensure no water is present
- Once milking is finished, water cannot be used to flush the last milk into the vat
- Check the plate cooler to see that water is not leaking into milk
Note: Freezing point downgrades are most common at the start and end of the season when milk volumes are low.
Training
- PrimaryITO offers a Milk Quality Programme that aims to improve on-farm skills, knowledge and procedures to reduce the risk of downgrades while increasing the profitability of your dairy operation.
- This course has been developed in conjunction with Fonterra.
- To arrange training for you and your team, contact PrimaryITO on 0800 20 80 20 or visit their website.
- Alternatively, book a Milk Quality Service Visit.