18 EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 354 



converted to a common 4 per cent fat-corrected-milk basis so as to make 

 breed comparisons possible. Also mature equivalent yields are being 

 figured for each lactation reported. 



The data will be tabulated for statistical interpretation. 



K. S. Morrow, H. A. Keener 



Chore Efficiency 



The study of chore efficiency this year has been confined mostly to 

 milking procedure. On account of the farm labor shortage, greater imme- 

 diate assistance could be given dairymen by concentrating on this chore 

 practice which tends to limit production on individual farms. 



Three dairy herds were shifted over to the fast-milking procedure on 

 a trial basis during August (1943). This is a method of stimulating the 

 let-down of milk as -developed by W. E. Petersen of Minnesota. On one 

 farm, a record taken on August 28, before conversion, shows an over-all 

 time of d>7 .6 minutes for milking 34 cows. The machines were left on the 

 cows an average of 6.6 minutes. They were on 12 cows for a period of 7 

 minutes or more, and on one cow for over 12 minutes. 



The shift to rapid milking was made on August 28, and a record was 

 taken on August 31. At this time, the same two men with the same equip- 

 ment milked ?)?> cows in 59.4 minutes. The average time the machines 

 were on the cows was reduced to 4.2 minutes, and the longest period the 

 machines were on any one cow was 5.3 minutes. Only six cows were milked 

 longer than 4.5 minutes. There was a slight reduction of milk the second 

 day under the new procedure ; but on the third day, production was back 

 to normal. The amount of stripping was about the same as before con- 

 version. 



Records were taken on 20 farms in the spring of 1944. In each case, 

 the operators had shifted over to the fast-milking procedure. The lowest 

 average time that the milking machines were used on cows was slightly 

 less than 3 minutes. In this case, the over-all machine time was 3.65 min-. 

 utes per cow. The operator and his 15-year-old son milked 40 cows with 

 two single units in 73.5 minutes. This over-all time can be reduced later 

 when the operator makes changes in his procedure in handling the milk. 

 The use of a third unit could reduce the total milking time but would in- 

 volve an additional investment. 



The first emphasis in this study was directed toward the possibility of 

 reducing the time the milkers were used on the cows. In the last half of 

 the year, the study has given attention to the combination of machines and 

 men and procedures that would give best results. 



This analysis is not complete, but a few points are mentioned here. 

 Certain operators lost time because of failure to group the cows to be 

 milked by the machines. Cows milked by hand are often scattered through 

 the herd, and stalls between milkers are not in use. In the process of 

 milking, stripping, and handling the milk, an operator travels back of the 

 cows from seven to twelve or more times depending on the procedure fol- 

 lowed. Assuming an average travel of 10 trips back of the cows, each stall 

 represents a daily travel of about 70 feet. In one herd of 50 cows, about 

 800 feet of extra travel was involved daily, largely because the cows milked 



