DairyBetter.org

04/27/2022

My nonprofit was created to improve the health of the dairy cow and to honor my father who spent his lifetime doing just that, but as I began to see pictures of cows wondering around bombed out farm buildings in Ukraine, it took on a whole new meaning.

The Ukrainian farmer needs to get back to milking their cows in order to produce food for their communities as well as the rest of the world. Please consider donations to rebuild Ukraine. Visit dairybetter.org/Ukraine.

DairyBetter.org is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization.

01/08/2022

Quality to Measure by...

12/05/2021

During the cow pre-milking process the foremilk is checked for abnormalities and the teats are washed or cleaned, the National Mastitis Council Recommended Milking Procedures revised 2013 indicates the following: Regardless of how the teats are prepared they must be dried thoroughly with single-service paper or individual cloth towels. Thorough drying of teats and teat ends is a critical step in the prep procedure. Milking wet teats increases the likelihood of mastitis and reduces milk quality.

I have been following the robotic milking machines for quite some time, while not observing in person, I've mostly observed them on YouTube videos. Because of the new sensor technology to inspect the milk and the lessening of labor to handle the chore of milking, this technology seems to be the milking tech for the future. Even though this type of equipment has been in the marketplace for over 20 years, I am trying to correlate its process with that of accepted procedures for milking the cow. As noted by NMC, above, drying the teats prior to milking is important. Now, some robots put one teat cup on and it carries out the entire process from cleaning, priming and milking all in one application. Other robots will first clean and massage with brushes, then apply the milking teat cup, while still others clean with one teat cup application before applying another for milking. My question is this: is the teat being dried in these processes without being obvious or is there a reason why drying might not be as important because of some feature of the robotic cleaning process?

Dairybetter.org provides funds for entities working on dairy cow health improvements, which could be new methods, new products or the implementation of new ideas.

12/01/2021

One of the ways this nonprofit funds its projects is to sell quality products on our website, DairyBetter.org. Please visit. Plus, check out our pricing.

11/17/2021

Doc's Corner - Article 211

To understand why dairybetter.org was created to carry on Doc Brazil's goals, you need to understand the story and it goes like this - My dad was like a rockstar...Lionel H. Brazil, DVM was the equivalent of a rockstar in the dairy industry. After he graduated from the University of California Davis with a veterinarian degree, he came back to his hometown of Tulare, California, to build. First, he built a veterinary hospital, then he built new age dairies using the science he had learned in veterinarian school. He also conceived in the formation of the Western Dairy Research Applied Research Facility. His focus drove him to develop and market equipment, worldwide, with the one goal in mind, that, of improving the health of the dairy animal. The products he developed became the “gold standards” in their respective segments of the industry. He then taught at the Milking Technology Laboratory facility at the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, educating young veterinarian students in the science of milking cow management. Later in life, he gave me, his son, the business to carry on his endeavors. He gave me a livelihood. I, unfortunately, in the long run, failed him. I did not have his focus and during some financial hard times, I lost the company. But, after a 12-year hiatus from the dairy industry, I am coming back in a more purposeful way. I am no veterinarian and no superior businessperson, but, I think now, I have begun to understand his focus and commitment - That singular commitment and goal to improve the health of the dairy animal. With this nonprofit, I plan to pick up where he left off and do whatever I can to continue in his footsteps. Step by step, I am committed to improving the health, longevity, and productivity of the dairy animal.

Doc's Corner is a contribution of Lionel H. Brazil, DVM (1928-2007). Doc Brazil offered dairy consultation services worldwide for many years. His services covered the following areas: milking management, vacuum system evaluation; and all management procedures relating to mastitis control and SCC reduction. Mike Brazil is currently contributing to Doc's Corner. Mike worked his early years on his dad's and grandfather's dairies. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and then came back to help his father run Western Dairy Research, Inc. Mike was president of WDR from 1982-2009. Mike also developed the Sentinel Digimet.

Sales and donations that are made on the DairyBetter.org website are used to provide funds for the DairyBetter.org Projects. Whether you purchase a product for sale or make a donation on the DairyBetter.org website, your money spent with DairyBetter.org will be used for causes that directly improve the health, longevity and productivity of the dairy cow. Thank you for purchasing our products and/or donating to our causes.

11/07/2021

Our focus is the health, longevity and the productivity of the dairy cow. In order to carry on the goals of Doc Brazil, dairybetter.org will organize activities that are called projects. A project could be the development of new products, new methods, or a project could be the granting of funds to other organizations that are implementing new ideas used by the dairy industry. A project could be the goal of donating funds to a university that is preceding along a certain path or offering a certain type of educational program. These are the type of projects that would have been of major interest to Doc Brazil.

We fund our Projects by raising money through; 1) sales of leather products, such as backpacks, bags, wallets and leather jewelry, 2) monies received through donations, 3) monies obtained by grants from other non-profit organizations.

Sales and donations will be used to provide funds for the dairybetter.org projects. Whether you purchase a product for sale or make a donation on the dairybetter.org website, your money spent with dairybetter.org will be used for causes that directly improve the health of the dairy cow. Thank you for purchasing our products or donating to our cause.

DairyBetter.org is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. As such, donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

10/31/2021

Our goal at DairyBetter.org is to improve the health of the dairy cow. One of the things we do is to provide funds to universities or companies that are, for example, improving milking technologies or finding ways to eliminate mastitis or improving milking management techniques.

In order to accomplish this, we raise funds by selling quality leather products on our website at DairyBetter.org. Some of the companies we deal with, even drop ship for us, so we don't have the expense of carrying inventories. We buy wholesale, so we can provide you with reasonable pricing. Thank you for visiting and helping us accomplish our goal of improving the health, longevity and productivity of the dairy cow.

10/24/2021

The year was around 1970 and dairymen were starting to consider sanitizing the milking claw unit between milkings.

The attempt seems a little crude today, but it was basically dumping the claw and shells into a bucket of sanitizing solution and at the time it was a solution with a percentage of iodine and water. Some companies were experimenting with automatic backflush with some success. Western Dairy Research had developed a valve that was connected to a 1 inch PVC piping that went down both sides of the milking pit along with the milk line. The milking machine, after being used for milking the cow, would be disengaged from the milk line and connected to this valve, a button would be pushed allowing the milking unit to be flushed with the iodine solution running through the PVC tubing. There was also a model that ran iodine first, then flushed with clear water. It was like hitting the lever on a urinal. The total time might have been about 15 seconds.

Well, a lot of changes have taken place since back then. Many of the automated takeoff systems incorporated backflushing that takes place right after the machine comes off the cow. It seems that even more advancements have come about with the advent of the robotic milkers. Sanitizing the teats, as well as sanitizing the milking units is included in this new robotic automated process. And on top of that, the robotic systems are also cleaning the teats and priming the cow, so she’s ready to let down her milk. Plus, the teats, are also being sprayed at the end of milking with a teat dip solution and to note, this is taking place in the automatic takeoff systems as well as the robotic systems.

Doc's Corner is a contribution of Lionel H. Brazil, DVM (1928-2007). Doc Brazil offered dairy consultation services worldwide for many years. His services covered the following areas: milking management, vacuum system evaluation; and all management procedures relating to mastitis control and SCC reduction. Mike Brazil is currently contributing to Doc's Corner. Mike worked his early years on his dad's and grandfather's dairies. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and then came back to help his father run Western Dairy Research, Inc. Mike was president of WDR from 1982-2009. Mike also developed the Sentinel Digimet.

Sales and donations that are made on the DairyBetter.org website are used to provide funds for the DairyBetter.org Projects. Whether you purchase a product for sale or make a donation on the DairyBetter.org website, your money spent with DairyBetter.org will be used for causes that directly improve the health, longevity and productivity of the dairy cow. Thank you for purchasing our products and/or donating to our causes.

10/18/2021

"Dataman was my endearing name for my father, although I don't believe I ever said it to his face. He loved data. His favorite was milking pulsation data. I think he must have even dreamed about it, because he'd call me at 3 am in the morning and say he'd just discovered something interesting about pulsation."

Pulsation of 65:35 provides rapid milking with no disadvantages.

We marketed a pulsation control box that was called a Sentinel Pulso-Controller. So, because we could manipulate the pulsation ratio, Doc Brazil was interested in tweaking it and finding what was best for the cow.

Attached is a crude graph. It is the only one that I could find that was not copyrighted. It's in the public domain. However, it shows the basics.

Pulsation is necessary and important during the milking process, because it creates the massage action on the teats. Without a massage period the vacuum would be constant on the end of the teats and this would not be beneficial to the cows teats or to the milking process. During the A phase, vacuum in the pulsation chamber (between the liner shell and the outside surface of the liner) is beginning to rise. Technically, the A phase begins 1.2" Hg above 0" Hg vacuum to 1.2" Hg below maximum vacuum. This A phase is also referred to as the beginning of the milking phase. The B phase is the period when the liner is open and milk would be flowing from the teats of the cow. This phase is the other part of the milking phase and would also be the period of peak milk flow. Technically, the B phase is 1.2" Hg below maximum vacuum at the start, to 1.2" Hg below the maximum vacuum at the end of the B phase. The A and B phase would be considered the milking phase. The C phase is when the liner is beginning to close around the teat and technically is calculated as the end of B phase or 1.2" Hg below maximum vacuum to the beginning of the D phase which is 1.2" Hg above the minimum vacuum level. The D phase is the period when the liner collapses around the teat, because there is vacuum inside the liner and atmospheric air on the outside, between the liner and liner shell. This period is the rest phase or massage phase because the teats are not being subjected to vacuum during this time period. Plus, during this rest phase blood can again circulate through the teat. Technically, the D phase ends at 1.2" Hg above zero" Hg vacuum at the same time that another A phase is beginning. The C and D phase together are considered the entire rest or message phase. From a research perspective, Doc Brazil, considered that if the A and B phases to the C and D phases, were in a ratio of 65:35 this would lead to the most rapid milking without any disadvantages. If C and D are less than 35%, the teats would not be getting enough rest.

Doc's Corner is a contribution of Lionel H. Brazil, DVM (1928-2007). Doc Brazil offered dairy consultation services worldwide for many years. His services covered the following areas: milking management, vacuum system evaluation; and all management procedures relating to mastitis control and SCC reduction. Mike Brazil is currently contributing to Doc's Corner. Mike worked his early years on his dad's and grandfather's dairies. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and then came back to help his father run Western Dairy Research, Inc. Mike was president of WDR from 1982-2009. Mike also developed the Sentinel Digimet.

Sales and donations that are made on the DairyBetter.org website are used to provide funds for the DairyBetter.org Projects. Whether you purchase a product for sale or make a donation on the DairyBetter.org website, your money spent with DairyBetter.org will be used for causes that directly improve the health, longevity and productivity of the dairy cow. Thank you for purchasing our products and/or donating to our causes.

Doc's Corner Article 208 - DairyBetter.org

10/14/2021

“My Opinion on how often is your automatic milking cluster removed from the udder under a vacuum load? Possibly more often than you realize!”

Back in 2003 the line in quotes, above, was the subject that was on Doc Brazil's mind. It is still an issue, today in 2021. The milking claw pictured below is what the concern is all about. The question we all need to ask is, "How and when and under what conditions, can the milking claw be removed.

Doc Brazil wrote, "One must be aware that the milking unit must not be removed under normal milking vacuum levels. There is no recent data, that I am aware of, that suggests how low the vacuum should be at the time of removal. My present opinion is that the milking vacuum should be very close to atmospheric pressure prior to removal."

The cow above is being milked, manually. With manual milking, the cow is allowed to milk out and then the milker, using his or her hand, would pinch between the teat and the teat cup allowing atmospheric air into the teat cup which in turn allowed the unit to be removed. Another method, was for the claw to have a shut off valve and as soon as the valve were shut off, the machine could be removed.

In the case automation, one must be concerned about two factors:
(1) What is the decay time of your milking unit? (2) What is the retract time of your retract cylinder?

Decay time could be defined as the time it takes the vacuum within the milking cluster and milk hose to return to atmospheric pressure after the closure of the milk valve to the milk pipe line or vacuum source.

Retract time is the time it takes the retract cylinder to retract the milking cluster after the milk flow sensor says it is time for removal. Several years ago, this was not a major problem. Then, most dairymen were using 5/8 or even 9/16 inlet milking claws along with four to five feet of matching milk hose. Under those conditions the average decay and retract time was in the 3 second range. When the milk flow sensor indicated time for removal and retract cylinder responded, the vacuum had pretty well dissipated from milking claw and no problems occurred.

Today, with the development of 3/4 and 7/8 inlet milking claws with enlarged milk hoses, we often find decay time to be in the 5 to 7 seconds and up to 14 seconds in some basement barns.

The timing issue with decay and retract time when dealing with automatic takeoffs results because, if retract time is too late or too slow, the teat cups will fall to the floor. The robotic milking equipment company, Lely, has a nice feature which uses a teat cup holder or "MotherShip" as they refer to it, which catches the teat cups, so they can lean toward the low side of vacuum remaining in the teat cup, because the teat cups are prevented from hitting the floor.

Vacuum within cluster and hose is dissipated in three ways after closure of milk valve:

(1) Through the cluster vent
(2) Through cluster and liner vents
(3) From around the teats and liner mouthpiece - this often happens, but not a dependable release of vacuum that can be depended upon
(4) Some back-flush units admit atmospheric pressure as soon as the slide valve moves from milk to sanitize.

One must be aware of the vent diameter in any claw in question. My present opinion is that the claw vent should be in the range of 0.040 to 0.042 inches in diameter. Obviously the larger the vent, the greater the flow of air. This diameter admits approximately 0.4 to 0.5 CFM depending upon temperature an atmospheric pressure. If one can not control decay by vent enlargement or slowing retract time, the option could well be vented liners which allows approximately 0.4 CFM into the claw. It is my opinion, that claw vent should be left open because of the difficulty of always maintaining open liner vents.

My observations are that this additional air causes no problems other than perhaps a lowering of the vacuum level by 0.1 to 0.2 CFM depending upon number of milking claws within the milking parlor.

In any event, one must be certain that decay and retract time are such that the milking unit is not removed under an elevated vacuum load.

Doc's Corner - Article 207 - DairyBetter.org

10/07/2021

Available at DairyBetter.org

Classic Signature, soft leather, bi-fold wallet in Dark Brown with a practical interior, and multiple card slots. Genuine leather, traditionally hand-crafted to meet your everyday needs with a touch of meaningful sophistication. This wallet is the perfect size. It is slim and light-weight making it....