Smarter milking: 3 ways to improve your farm efficiency

Does this happen to you sometimes?

You spend 10 minutes searching for the brush that is out of place. Suddenly, you see a newborn calf lying between the dry cows. Your employee forgot to tell you that the stock of cleaning products is almost empty... Such timewasters quickly lead to a lot of frustration and affect the productivity of your farm. "Lean management" could provide a solution to these problems: it is a way of working (and thinking) aimed at systematically tackling these types of "waste" on your farm.

Below are 3 lean techniques to streamline work at your farm and reduce efficiency losses:

1. Identify bottlenecks first

A common, simple method for analyzing a problem is a "fishbone diagram". This brainstorming exercise helps you and your team think about the possible causes of a problem, and consequently, the possible solutions. First, the team has to agree on the problem that needs to be addressed. This particular issue forms the "head of the fish" on the right (see image). Next, the "backbone of the fish" should be completed with all possible underlying causes assigned to a number of fixed categories (e.g., Man, Method, Material, Machines, ...). This allows you to identify the main bottlenecks and subsequently select the most appropriate solutions.

2. Visualize the work

As a manager, you probably know perfectly well what tasks need to be done, but for your employees or family members, it's not always so obvious. By visualizing the workload, everyone will immediately be aware of the tasks that still need to be done. After all, a picture says more than 1.000 words.
One way to visualize work is the "Kanban" board. A Kanban board is a simple tool originating from Japan, and the tool has been well established in other industries for quite some time. The classic Kanban board is put in a central location (e.g. in the office) and it contains several columns to classify tasks according to their progress (i.e. "to do," "in progress" and " done"). This way, employees can clearly see which tasks still need to be completed in the coming days or weeks. Depending on the situation, you review the board daily or weekly with your team.

In the real-life example above, the dairy farmer chose a version of the Kanban board with specific, non-routine tasks on the left side (such as replacing teat liners). Here, the right side of the board is used as a reporting tool to keep track of orders, robotic failures and lame cows.

3. Set and track your targets

If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. Only by setting targets and tracking progress with the right metrics can you know if your farm is moving in the right direction. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable metrics that tell you how a particular part of the business is doing. Some commonly used KPIs in dairy farming are:

• Milk production
• Cell count
• Calving age
• Average number of days to 1st insemination
• Calf mortality
• Involuntary cull rate
• Condition score
• ...

These numbers are often hidden in software, loose notes or reports. However, the entire team should ideally have access to an instantaneous visual overview of the most important metrics. Again, a simple whiteboard in the office could do the trick. Of course, you don't have to continuously monitor every possible KPI: just select the ones that apply to your situation.

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Will it pay off?

The fact that lean management can have positive effects for dairy farmers has already been confirmed by Swedish research [1].

In this study, a Swedish dairy farm with 230 cows was assisted in optimizing their operational processes through lean management. After a farm analysis, several improvements were proposed: drawing up standardized work protocols for employees, keeping track of key indicators on a whiteboard, cleaning up and organizing workstations, setting up weekly meetings with all team members, ...

Three years after starting the program, milk production was found to have increased by as much as 15% (from 9,600 kg to 11,000 kg per cow per year). The calving age decreased from 26 to 24 months, and the somatic cell count also dropped from 275,000 cells/ml to 150,000 cells/ml.

You have to make sure that you have a system where the new routines are visible and monitored, otherwise there is a risk that your new way of working will not catch on. (Farm owner)

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How can Cow Coach help you?

Cow Coach helps dairy farmers improve their labor organization and productivity. By combining the lean philosophy with data-driven insights, we aim to reduce the overall workload and strengthen cooperation on the farm. Dairy farms coached by Cow Coach give higher satisfaction scores to cooperation and labor organization on their farms after only 3 months.

Has this article inspired you to get started with lean management on your farm? We help you get on the right track. Ask for a free introductory meeting to discuss how we can help your farm move forward, or learn more about our process.

References

[1] Melin, M. and Barth, H., 2020. Value stream mapping for sustainable change at a Swedish dairy farm. International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 25(1), pp.130-140.