Automatic Milking Systems in the Production of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese: Effects on the Milk Quality and on Cheese Characteristics

The adoption of innovative processes, such as the automatic milking system (AMS), in the production of typical PDO cheeses, such as Parmigiano Reggiano, needs to be evaluated and tested, to verify its influence on milk quality and the typicality of the product. The present research was aimed to study the effect of the introduction of the AMS on the cheesemaking characteristics of the milk and the ripening process and the sensory properties of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese. Six cheesemaking trials were performed and, in each trial, two different separated pools of milk were submitted to the cheesemaking process in parallel, one from AMS and the other from a traditional milking parlor (TMP). AMS milk, in comparison with TMP one, showed higher content of lactose and calcium and lower contents of somatic cells, thermophilic lactic acid bacteria and chloride. Nevertheless, these changes were too small to influence the efficiency of the cheesemaking process and the cheese composition and its sensory profile. Moreover, cheeses made with AMS milk fully complied with the sensory characteristics of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese PDO, as defined by the PDO rules.

Association between Udder and Quarter Level Indicators and Milk Somatic Cell Count in Automatic Milking Systems

Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) record a lot of information, at udder and quarter level, which can be useful for improving the early detection of altered udder health conditions. A total of 752,000 records from 1003 lactating cows milked with two types of AMS in four farms were processed with the aim of identifying new indicators, starting from the variables provided by the AMS, useful to predict the risk of high milk somatic cell count (SCC). Considering the temporal pattern, the quarter vs. udder percentage difference in milk electrical conductivity showed an increase in the fourteen days preceding an official milk control higher than 300,000 SCC/mL. Similarly, deviations over time in quarter vs. udder milk yield, average milk flow, and milking time emerged as potential indicators for high SCC. The Logistic Analysis showed that Milk Production Rate (kg/h) and the within-cow within-milking percentage variations of single quarter vs. udder milk electrical conductivity, milk yield, and average milk flow are all risk factors for high milk SCC. The result suggests that these variables, alone or in combination, and their progression over time could be used to improve the early prediction of risk situations for udder health in AMS milked herds.

Impacts of Divergent Moving Drives on Energy Efficiency and Performance of Various AMS in Operative Conditions

In recent decades, the costs of energy in dairy farming increased mainly due to rising energy prices but also due to increased mechanisation and automatisation. Electric energy in dairy farming is essentially used for milking and milk cooling. However, the energy consumption of automatic milking systems (AMS) depend on many factors (e.g., machine generations, machine configurations and settings, and operative conditions). To evaluate the differences in performance and energy efficiency of AMS, the impact of different technologies within the attachment arm in practical conditions, a detailed quantification of energy consumption was carried out on two consecutive single box automatic milking systems (AMS) of a dairy farm in southern Bavaria (Germany). The AMS equipped with an electrical drive of the attachment arm was more efficient and showed a higher capacity regarding cows in the herd. The replacement of the pneumatic drive with electrical drives leads to higher energy consumptions of the milking robot but reduces the energy consumption of the air compressor. Hence, the energy efficiency of the electric attachment arm showed strong advantages in the energetic efficiency of the whole milking process. Advances of sustainability due to the increased performance are and should be investigated in further research.

Water Consumption in the Automatic Milking Systems

The article deals with the determination of water consumption at selected dairy farms during milking using automatic milking systems (AMS). The aim was to determine the water consumption during basic activities associated with the AMS use, namely water for cleaning the milking set and water for cleaning and disinfecting the entire milking system at set daily intervals (hereinafter water). The research was carried out at seven farms in the Czech Republic, which house dairy cows of the black-spotted Holstein cattle. The evaluated groups of dairy cows had from 97 to 103 milked cows for the entire monitored period. Based on the performed measurements, it was found that the average amount of water consumed by AMS per 1 litre of milked milk was 0.33 litres. The results show that water consumption is not completely constant during the year. Multiple factors, including performance, the number of non-drinking milk detections, animal health and current climatic conditions, influence it.

RESULTS OF THE PRODUCTION INSPECTION OF THE AUTOMATIC MILK WASHING LINE OF MILKING INSTALLATIONS

Creation of automated technical and technological support of the system of washing milking installations, which intensifies the process without additional costs, becomes of paramount importance in solving the problem of improving the quality of milk. The purpose of the research is to conduct a production inspection of the developed automated system for flushing milk lines of milking parlors. On the basis of the received mathematical models of process of work of washing of milking installations with air and hydro-injectors, and also the photodetector of definition of pollution of the milk line of the milking parlor the automatic system of its washing is developed. energy consumption. As a result of industrial inspection of automatic milking line washing systems, it was found that the lowest value of microbiological contamination of milk (number of mesophilic aerobic and facultative-anaerobic microorganisms) is observed for the variant with adaptive washing duration and adaptive mode of air injectors. For UDE-16 the Christmas tree makes 82 thousand CFU/cm3 (extra grade of milk), and for UDM-100 "Bratslavchanka" – 248 thousand CFU/cm3 (the highest grade of milk). As a result of production inspection of the automatic milking line washing system of milking installations, it was found that the lowest values of water consumption are observed for the variant with the shortest washing duration (5 min/10 min/ 5 min) For UDE-16 the Christmas tree makes 185 l, and for UDM-100 "Bratslavchanka" – 268 l. The lowest value of energy consumption is observed for the basic version of the flushing system (without additional equipment). For UDE-16 the Christmas tree makes 13,5 kWh, and for UDM-100 "Bratslavchanka" – 21,4 kWh.