Once - A - Day Milking Rakaia Island Dairies, for the 2004/2005 season, elected to use OAD as a management tool to further grow the business. It was a decision based around a commercial OAD model. It was felt that there would be significant benefits for the farm, the livestock, the staff and the owners. OAD would enable the farm to increase production while still remaining within the existing infrastructure. For staff the benefits are numerous: More sociable work hours Less time in the dairy New challenges New and different management strategies New technology To elaborate on these points a little ........... More sociable work hours and less time in the dairy milking Milkings start at 6.00am, and during the spring, take until about 1.00pm, the milkings are rostered so no-one spends too long in the shed. Breakfasts are rostered as well and are used to further reduce the time spent milking. As the season progresses we see these times speeding up as the cows come off their peak lactation. It is management policy to see all staff home by around 5.00pm. New challenges with new and different management techniques The whole OAD system presents new challenges to the staff in how we manage the OAD cow. It can be quite different to the conventional management methods adopted on most NZ dairy farms. Learning what drives the OAD cow, her appetite, milk production, health, fertility, suitability etc are all areas that are new and exciting  to be a part of. New technology With the need to increase stocking rates to make up for the loss of production in the short term, it is obvious then that you are dealing with larger numbers of stock. Efficiencies then become the driver to make it run well. The infrastructure of the farm needs careful planning, as does anything that can aide the handling of large stock numbers. Technology can help significantly with these areas, huge gains can be achieved by embracing this new technology, making the job even more interesting. Once - A - Day Update We are now approaching the end of our third season with OAD, where do we sit? Listed below is the production history for the last twelve years with an accurate estimate of the 07/08 season. Production History Year           No. of Cows     Milk Solids                                                             95/96                   914 (TAD)             369,000 96/97                 1100                      425,000 97/98                 1500                      572,000 98/99                 1830                      676,000 99/00                 2050                      791,400 00/01                 2760                   1,098,960 01/02                 3020                   1,206,805 02/03                 3050                   1,308,000 03/04                 3300                   1,424,616 04/05                 4750 (OAD)          1,320,000 05/06                 5000                   1,530,000 06/07                 5100                   1,670,000 07/08                 5300                   1,700,000 08/09                 5300                   1,740,000 09/10                 5000      budget    1,700,000 As can be seen from the production listed above, it was the 03/04 season that saw the Island peak under  Twice - A - Day (TAD), during this season, questions were being asked about the sustainability of the system we ran. At the same time, we were looking to drive things along and continue to increase milk solids production. With all of these issues before us, it was initially decided to look at OAD as a means of improving the incalf rate among our younger cows. Thought was given to placing one herd on each farm on OAD, the thinking then leant towards putting all the OAD cows on one farm, to the conclusion that from a management point of view, it would be a lot easier to put everything on OAD. It was time to seriously look at this prospect, to look into the idea of OAD milking as a way to grow the business. Looking at all the positives vs. the negatives, it was obvious that it fitted in perfectly with what the farm was trying to achieve, and it was looked upon as an exciting new direction to take the farm. To kick off the 04/05 season, the farm bought in all heifers to increase stock numbers. In our first year, we had 2500 heifers to calve down!! This, along with having all the cows needing to adapt to OAD, was the reason for the temporary drop in production. As the large number of young cows approach their peak, we are seeing huge gains. Also in our first year, there was a major learning curve among management. As can be seen, our production is now easily exceeding our best TAD season, and we are convinced there is a long way to go yet, before reaching the potential of a OAD cow. A major benefit of OAD has seen the fertility of the herd increase. Under TAD, we ran an average MT rate of around 12%. Under OAD, and as the health of the cows has improved, our MT rate has dropped accordingly. The first season saw our MT rate drop to 10%, our second season saw it drop hugely to 6%. This season has seen it drop even further, to an amazingly low 3.8%. This is huge for us in a season where cows are worth so much. We can now very quickly improve the herd, having so much more culling potential. What has become very obvious to the farm, are the hidden benefits that come about due to OAD: