Switching to full season OAD milking will likely impact your whole farm system.

Before changing your farm system it’s important to assess the potential benefits (if any) and whether it fits with your future aspirations and goals.

This tool can be used as a start to the assessment process and by selecting the most relevant answer to the 10 questions below will offer guidance as to whether OAD may offer benefits in your circumstances.

After answering the questions, click 'calculate results' to add up your overall score. A red flag indicates that you'll likely need to change something before considering a switch to full season OAD (e.g. get your herd's average SCC down). The higher the score, the stronger the result. The maximum score is 10.

Key

: OAD may offer benefits
: Benefits of OAD not clear
: Changes required before adopting OAD

Question

1. Are you looking for a better work/life balance, or finding milking physically challenging?

Yes, it would be great to spend more time with the kids or on hobbies.
Yes, I want to retire shortly.
Sometimes it would be great to have more free time.
No, I'm happy with my work life balance or don't have to milk

2. Do you find it difficult to attract/retain suitable staff?

Yes, attracting and retaining staff is difficult
Yes, but I don't think it's related to the amount of hours in the dairy
No, I have good staff retention

3. How would you use the time saved by milking OAD?

I could use the time for other essential farm tasks e.g. doing a farm walk
I could employ less staff, without increasing the workload on remaining staff
Sometimes I could use the time for other essential farm tasks
The time saved by milking OAD would be of little benefit

4. Would milking OAD avoid capital expenditure to expand or replace dairy infrastructure?

Yes, my dairy is getting tired but I could keep milking with OAD
Yes, I could increase my herd size without having to build a new dairy if I used OAD milking
No, my existing dairy is adequate

5. Is your herd walking more than 2km to the furthest paddock?

I could bring additional paddocks into the milking platform using OAD
No, I have a compact farm

6. Does your farm have large differences in altitude?

Yes, there is more than 50 m between the highest and lowest points
No, my farm is flat

7. Are you meeting industry targets for reproductive performance?

No, I have a 6 week in-calf rate of less than 78%
No, I have empty rates higher than 10%
Yes, I achieve industry targets

8. Can your business sustain at least one season of reduced milksolids production per cow (e.g. 10-20%)?

Yes, I can adjust my farm system or cost structure to account for this
Yes, but I can't manage a higher replacement rate while transitioning to OAD
No, any change would put significant pressure on my business

9. Can you afford for your bulk milk SCC to increase by 40-60,000?

Yes, my current SCC is low
Yes, but I currently have a mastitis problem
No, this increase would mean I am close to receiving milk company penalties

10. What is the genetic make up of your herd?

I have a high BW herd
My herd is predominantly Jersey
My herd is predominantly KiwiCross
My herd is predominantly Holstein-Friesian
Regardless of my current breed I am willing to transition to a different breed

Reset Calculate results

Your Results

		Score	Red flags
	Beneficial: OAD may offer benefits If your score indicates full season OAD may offer benefits for you, this section will guide you through what you can expect from milking full season once a day as well as providing tips and information on making a successful transition. You can also read about how to make contact with existing OAD farmers through our Dairy Connect service.
	Not clear: The benefits of OAD are not clear If your score indicates that the benefits of changing to full season OAD are not clear, you may still want to read through the information and find out how it does benefit other farmers and if it's something you might want to work towards. It doesn't imply that switching to full season OAD is disadvantageous, just the motivation for adoption is unclear.
	Red flag: Changes required before adopting OAD For some people, changing to full season OAD may not suit, or significant changes may be required. If this is the case, you may be interested in reading more about the changes, what OAD looks like in practice compared to TAD and evaluate whether it is worth making changes (e.g. changing breed).