Reducing costs on the farm

Great discussion with a leading farm advisor in New Zealand last night on the range of benefits being achieved in the land of the long white cloud after introducing Lean Farm initiatives 4 years ago. The following are some of these examples and what you can expect to achieve with deploying Lean on your farm.

• “Less hours worked on farm and milking times reduced. In New Zealand there are examples of 45 minutes to 1 hour being knocked off each milking. These farmers are getting other key tasks around the milking done much more efficiently and are spending less time on farm over calving – in one case 25 hours over a fortnight per employee (about 2 hours per day per team member on average). Another farm said they have saved about 15 hours per staff member each fortnight with significant reductions in milking times.
• Calving more manageable – One farm reported a drop from 33 missed cows calved to only 1 missed the following year, this represents a significant reduction in cost and frustration. Other farmers have reported a more manageable and less stressful calving season.
• Animal health improved – Less mastitis, less lame cows and less sick cows reported.
• Milk volumes increased and quality consistent – A number of farms have reported increases in milk production, a reduction in milk quality alerts and no penicillin near-misses.
• Reduction in spending – Costs have been reduced and farmers are only buying things when needed because they now know what they have and exactly what they need.
• Less stress, more motivated and engaged team.
• Improved focus on health and safety.”

We are looking forward to working with the farm communities in Ireland and Canada to achieving some of these benefits.

You can find out more about our Lean Dairy certificate programme here.

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