Milking technology specialist Ian Ohnstad holding cow teat talking into Dictaphone recorder

THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT’S OPINION

"Using ADF InVent showed a significant improvement in teat scoring assessed on multiple factors - ringing, congestion and colour" IAN OHNSTAD, The Dairy Group, Internationally recognised specialist in milking technology

We asked Mr Ian Ohnstad of the Dairy Group to conduct an independent assessment of the ADF InVent system.

Mr Ohnstad devised a comprehensive testing programme comparing ADF InVent against an unvented milking system to look for differences in post-milking teat condition – not just across the whole herd – but also looking at differences within each cow’s individual teats. This is a summary of his report.

Close up of cow teats with yellow dip dripping from teat

Ian Ohnstad
One of the inevitable effects of milking a cow with vacuum is teat congestion, which can prevent cows from milking quickly, completely and gently. We of course need some vacuum when milking, but it is excessive vacuum which becomes problematic.

In order to mitigate teat congestion, we can try to ensure that we have a good fitting liner, that is suitably fitted and matching to the teat dimensions. Therefore, we get a good effective seal between the liner and the teat.

The effects of the ADF InVent system were evaluated using the guidelines developed by Teat Club International (TCI) for measures of a) teat ringing, b) teat congestion and c) teat discolouration.

Teat ringing is seen where the teat connects to the base of the udder and we used three categories:

Cat 1. A teat that has no ring

Cat. 2 A teat that has a visible ring

Cat. 3 A teat with a palpable ring at the base of the teat which is hard, swollen and uncomfortable

Teat congestion was measured by the change in the structure of the teat. These results ranged from no congestion to severe congestion. Teat colour at the end of milking was recorded and graded as either normal, red (some concern) or blue (very concerning).The trials were conducted at two different farms located in England. Comparing the results with ADF InVent enabled against the results with the venting functionality disabled it was observed that:

At the HERD level – teat condition was significantly better when the herds were milked with ADF InVent in all three measurements – teat ringing, teat congestion and teat colour.

% of teats in most severe teat ringing category

% of teats in most severe teat congestion category

% of teats in most severe teat colour category

At the INDIVIDUAL COW level – teat condition was significantly better on those teats milked with ADF InVent compared to those teats milked with the venting disabled.

Cows evaluated as positively benefitting from ADF InVent tended to show significantly measurable benefits. This observation may be particularly relevant for cows that can be vulnerable to high mouthpiece vacuum levels such as fresh heifers.

Man with a purple glove and light on head leaning on his arm and metal fence whilst staring at a cow

CONCLUSION

“Anything that improves cow comfort and milkability is going to be more profitable for a dairy farm. Particularly if we’re seeing improved milking performance through the InVent system.”

“All herds could suffer from teat congestion because fundamentally it’s the combination of liner fit to cow teat. Irrespective of milking system, irrespective of system vacuum, irrespective of liner design, all herds will have some cows that suffer from teat congestion. And as a consequence there will always be uncomfortable milking for some cows – unless they milk through the InVent system.”