{"id":23476,"date":"2024-06-26T15:06:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bandoncoop.ie\/agri\/?page_id=23476"},"modified":"2025-03-18T09:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T09:11:47","slug":"milk-recording","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bandoncoop.ie\/agri\/milk-recording\/","title":{"rendered":"Milk Recording"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Increasing the uptake and frequency of milk recording is an agreed key target for the Irish dairy industry to help ensure milk quality and reduce herd SCCs.<\/p>

At a farm level, milk recording has multiple benefits. It is key in preventing the spread of contagious mastitis, detecting new infections quickly, identifying the most efficient cows for breeding and when milk recording is completed within the first 60 days of calving, it can be used to evaluate the dry period.<\/p>

Despite the benefits associated with milk recording, many are still choosing not to do so. It is sometimes regarded as being expensive (about \u20ac15 per cow per year) and can disrupt the milking routine when time and labour may be in short supply. So, what are the real benefits of milk recording?<\/p>

Research carried out by Teagasc in conjunction with Animal Health Ireland highlights the economic benefits of milk recording using yearly information from the Teagasc National Farm Survey, from a representative sample of 516 dairy farmers spanning from 2008 to 2019. The analysis shows that the economic benefits of milk recording outweigh the costs, notably by helping farmers to breed and manage healthier and more productive cows. On average, when farm performance was compared for those farmers who milk record (about 45% of the sample) and those who do not (55%):<\/p>