What have we learned about milk quality and udder health in automatic milking systems?

Abstract

The adoption of automatic milking systems (AMS) continues to increase across North America. An analysis of milk quality data from more than 3,000 dairy farms in Ontario, Canada sug­gests that while AMS herds have a slightly higher average raw bacteria count and higher risk of incurring a bacterial or freez­ing point penalty, the bulk tank somatic cell count is similar among farms using pipeline, parlor and AMS systems. These results indicate that farms milking with AMS can produce milk of similarly high quality as those milking with conventional milking systems (CMS). A panel of individuals shared their opinions about advantages and disadvantages of AMS and CMS, with a number of AMS attributes appearing in both lists, sug­gesting that the perception will depend on the context and the attributes of the AMS.