Milking center performance and cost

A3574 Milking Center Advisor Interactive software for estimating milking center costs and performance by Douglas J. Reinemann Milking center performance and cost depend upon many variables, such as the type and intensity of your management system, the dairy s location, and the type of equipment and building techniques used. Milking Center Advisor software was designed to help you maximize the efficiency of your milking center by calculating the capital cost of a milking center and freestall barn, and tabulating the number of cows milked per hour. Yearly capital costs are combined with annual labor costs to yield total annual milking cost. The program can help you choose the size of a new milking parlor, select equipment, or provide you with information to evaluate equipment modifications in an existing parlor. Because each dairy s circumstances are unique, the results obtained from this software should be taken as approximations. The program should be used to compare options, not to develop exact cost and performance figures. Instructions for loading and running the software and examples of inputs and outputs are shown in Appendix A. For most inputs, the user supplies either the actual numerical value or a high, medium, or low indicator. The indicators are converted to numerical values representing a reasonable range for the corresponding value. Figure 1. The graph shows the throughput rate for various sized parlors operated by one or two milkers working at 85% efficiency. The 85% rate reflects the following task times: 6 seconds per stall to release and reload 30 seconds to prep and attach unit 6 minutes average milk-out time 6 seconds post-dip per cow Building and equipment costs The milking center should include a holding area, return lanes, animal retention area, milk and utility rooms, an office, and a milking parlor. (The milking parlor makes up only a small portion of the milking center.) The milking center s design must ensure that its components work well together. The milking center must also be integrated into all other facilities on the dairy. This will help you realize the full benefit of your investment in each component. Building and equipment costs are separated into four parts: 1) freestall barn; 2) milking center building; 3) milk house equipment; and 4) milking equipment. For this analysis, the milking center includes a milking parlor, holding area, animal retention pens, milk house, office and utility room. Building sizes are based on stock plans used by various milking equipment companies. Building costs on a per-square-foot basis represent actual 1993 figures. Equipment costs are estimates from various milking equipment companies. Figure 1 Estimated parlor throughput Cows milked per hour 160 140 120 100 80 60 The software provides only approximate building and equipment costs. You can obtain better estimates of construction and equipment costs from your local milking equipment dealers and farm builders. Actual cost figures from these sources may be entered directly as inputs. Capital costs are reported annually for depreciation, interest, repairs, taxes and insurance. Parlor throughput (cows milked per hour) Aprimary reason for investing in a milking parlor is to increase the number of cows milked per person per hour. Other benefits include improved working conditions, increased milking uniformity and more attractive conditions for hired or family labor. These pluses must be weighed against the capital cost of the parlor. A combination of factors unique to each dairy will influence the type and size of milking parlor to choose. (Only doublesided herringbone or parallel parlors are considered here since these make up the largest share of parlors being installed.) 1 operator 2 operator 40 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Number of stalls per side

2 Milking tasks times are separated into four functional groups: 1) cow movement; 2) prepping cows and attaching units; 3) machine on time; and 4) post-milking unit removal andor teat dip. The time required to work both sides of the parlor is calculated by adding the user selected task times (assuming an efficient milking routine). The resulting time to perform one turn is then used to calculate the maximum theoretical parlor throughput. This milking rate can be reduced by 10 to 20 percent based on the ability of the milker and the dairy s management level. This method produces throughput which corresponds well to actual field performance data with reasonable assumptions for milking task timing. Parlor throughput measured in cows milked per hour is the figure most often quoted in milking parlor literature. The operator(s) often perform other tasks such as setting up equipment, moving groups of cows from housing to holding pen, and washing the parlor and equipment. You can add these task times to the actual milking time to determine the total time it takes to perform one milking. User inputs User inputs and their definitions are presented here in the order in which they appear on the spreadsheet. Freestall barn cost includes the cost of the barn (shell and concrete for floor), stalls, gates, electrical service, and waterers. The low range is typical of a wood frame, uninsulated, naturally ventilated barn with curtain sidewalls and scraped concrete alleys. The high range represents a barn with insulated walls and roof, sliding or tilting doors for ventilation, and a slatted floor over gravity manure gutters with a central collection pit. Length of milking shift (hours) 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Milking center building cost includes an adequately sized holding area, catch pens, parlor area, utility and milk rooms and office. The size of the milking center building is scaled to the parlor size. The low range is typical of a building with an uninsulated holding area with curtain sidewalls, and wood frame construction for the parlor, milk and utility rooms. The high range is representative of a building with an insulated holding area and concrete block wall structure in the parlorutility area. Milk house equipment cost includes equipment such as the bulk tank, refrigeration unit(s), water heater, ventilation system, vacuum pumps and washing sink for the low range. The 1 0 Number of cows milked high range covers devices such as an automatic washer, heat recovery equipment and well water pre-cooler. Milking equipment cost includes all equipment in the parlor and holding area, such as milking units, stalls, gates and parlor automation. The low range is typical of a parlor and pipeline milking system with no automation (manual unit removal, manual entrance and exit gates, and no crowd gates). The middle range includes automation such as automatic unit removers, and powered entrance, exit and crowd gates. The high range represents the medium range of automation plus computerized cow identification, milk metering and automatic backflush. Figure 2. Using a range of parlor and herd sizes, the length of milking shifts for workers operating at 85% efficiency is given. Information is calculated based on the following task times: 6 seconds per stall to release and reload 30 seconds to prep and attach unit 6 minutes average milk-out time 6 seconds post-dip per cow 45 minutes set-up and wash equipment 15 minutes to move group from the barn Length of milking shift Double 4 Double 6 Double 12 (2 operators) Double 8 Double 16 (2 operators) 100 200 300 400 500 600

Milking tasks timing Milking task time ranges are based on studies of actual milking parlors and recommended milking practices. A table of the suggested range of times is presented in the spreadsheet along with the time inputs. This table is shown in screen 2 in Appendix A. Releasereload is the time required to release a group of cows from one side of the parlor and reload that side with the next group. Time is calculated as the number of seconds per milking stall. The time required to move cows depends on the type of stalls used (single file or rapid exit), the degree of gate automation, and the cow flow pattern. The slow range corresponds to a parlor with manual entrance and exit gates, single file exit and no crowd gate in the holding area. The medium range represents a single file exit parlor with powered entrance, exit and crowd gates and good cow flow. The high range represents a rapid exit parlor with powered gates and excellent cow flow. Prep and attach unit is the time, in seconds, required to perform all tasks before and including attachment of milking units. This may include washing udders, pre-dipping teats, drying teats and udders, stimulating udders and attaching the milking unit. The time may be adjusted according to which of these tasks is performed. The cleanliness of cows entering the parlor and the care given to cleaning and drying udders has a great deal of influence on this time. Prep and attach time is a major factor in both parlor throughput and udder health. Reducing prep and attach time is the surest way to increase parlor throughput, but may also lead to increased udder health problems. Average milk-out time is the time, in minutes, required for complete milk-out or unit on time. It is assumed that milking units are removed at the end of milking by automatic detachers or manually by the operator. Milk-out time will generally be lowered by one-half to one minute when going from two-time to threetime a day milking. Detachpost dip is the time, in seconds per cow, to perform any tasks after milking is completed such as post dipping, checking udders, and manual unit removal if automatic detachers are not used. Adjust time according to which tasks are manually performed by the operator(s). Milker efficiency is the percentage of the maximum theoretical milking rate that the operator(s) achieves. Consider the physical condition and motivation level of the operators when choosing this number. Equipment setup and wash is the time, in minutes, required to set up equipment before milking and to wash it when milking ends. Move group from barn is the time, in minutes, required to move one milking group from its housing area into the holding area. Enter zero if the people doing the milking do not perform this task. The number of groups is automatically calculated from the size of the milking herd, estimated parlor throughput, and one hour maximum time in the holding area. Labor and financial inputs Milkings per day is the number of times the cows are milked (2 or 3) per day. Reduce average milk-out time by one-half to one minute for the herd if 3-time per day milking is chosen. Maximum units per side per operator indicates the maximum number of milking units per parlor side that one operator would be expected to use. A value of 8 entered here means that double-8 parlors and smaller will be run by one operator. A double-9 and above would employ two operators. The PARLOR RATE graph may be consulted to help determine this value after the desired milking task timing inputs have been entered. The milking center s level of automation, design, and management have a significant impact on the number of units one operator can practically handle. Labor cost is the wage paid to the operator(s), including fringe benefits in dollars per hour. Use a reasonable figure for competent help in your area if you anticipate using hired labor. Consider the value of the owneroperator s time compared to time spent on other management tasks if this person is also expecting to work in the parlor. Barn stocking density is the ratio of stalls in the freestall barn to the number of cows housed there. A 300- stall barn housing 330 cows would have a stocking density of 110 percent. Capital annualization factors are the five parameters used to determine the annual cost of the capital investment. These factors are entered separately for buildings and equipment. The annualization factors and their default values are: Buildings Equip. Interest 12.0% 12.0% Depreciation 5.0% 10.0% Repairs 5.0% 5.0% Taxes 1.5% 0.0% Insurance 0.5% 0.5% 3 Individual case analysis Labor, capital cost and milking time analysis using the above inputs is performed for both a range of parlor and herd sizes and for a user-selected individual case. Output for individual case examples is presented in table form. The following two inputs determine the herd and parlor size used for an individual case analysis.

4 Inputs Number of cows to milk is the size of the milking herd. This value is used to size the freestall barn and determine total time for one milking in an individual case analysis. Calculations are also performed for herd sizes from 50 to 600 for the general case graph output. Number of parlor stalls per side is the size of the parlor to be used for detailed individual case output. For a double-8 parlor, enter 8. Calculations are also performed for general case graph output for double-2 to double-20 parlors. Outputs Parlor throughput is the number of cows milked per hour in the particular parlor size selected for individual case output. Time for each milking is the length of each milking shift, in hours, for the herd selected for individual case output analysis. This includes time for setting up and washing equipment, and moving cow groups to the holding area. Number of operators is the number of operators in the parlor during each milking. Milking center cost is the cost of all buildings and equipment associated with the milking center and is expressed as total capital cost, capital cost per cow, total annual cost and annual cost per cow. Freestall barn cost is the cost of animal housing facilities and is expressed as total capital cost, capital cost per cow, total annual cost and annual cost per cow. Milking center cost + barn cost is the combined expense of the milking center and freestall barn expressed as total capital cost, capital cost per cow, total annual cost and annual cost per cow. Milking labor cost is the cost of labor expressed as the total annual labor cost to milk the selected herd size and the annual labor cost per cow. Milking center + milking labor cost combines the annual costs of the milking facility and milking labor expressed as total annual cost and annual cost per cow. Milking center + barn + milking labor cost combines the yearly cost of animal housing, milking facilities and milking labor and is expressed as a total annual cost and annual cost per cow. Note that these costs do not include labor and facilities for manure handling, feeding, freestall maintenance, or any other tasks and facilities not associated with milking. Figure 3. Assumes milkhouse and milking equipment costs, freestall barn and milking center building costs in the medium range. Capital cost of facilities 3000 Capital cost per cow ($) 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Double 6 Double 4 Double 8 Double 12 Double 16 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Number of cows to milk

5 Figure 4. Assumes medium-range freestall barn and milking center building costs; milkhouse and milking equipment costs are also medium. Labor cost is $10 per hour. Annual cost of labor & facilities 900 Annual cost per cow 800 700 600 500 400 Double 4 Double 6 Double 12 (2 operators) 300 200 0 Double 8 100 200 300 400 500 600 Number of cows to milk General case outputs Cost and performance information for varying herd and parlor sizes is available in the following graphs: PARLOR RATE indicates the throughput rate for various parlor sizes operated by both one and two milkers. This rate reflects the task timing chosen by the user. Field data on parlor performance is also shown on the graph as a point of reference. An example is presented in Figure 1. MILKING TIME presents the length of each milking shift for a range of parlor and herd sizes. These times account for setting up equipment before milking, moving groups from animal housing to the holding area, and cleaning equipment after milking as chosen by the user. An example is presented in Figure 2. CAPITAL COST indicates the total capital investment per cow for the milking center (and animal housing if included). Costs are based on the inputs selected by the user. An example is presented in Figure 3. ANNUAL COST presents the total yearly facility and labor cost per cow for a range of herd and parlor sizes. An example is presented in Figure 4.

6 APPENDIX A Instructions for loading and running software The following hardware and software is required to operate this software: an IBM or compatible computer with a floppy disk drive running LOTUS 123, version 2 or 3. This spreadsheet was developed using LOTUS 123, version 3.1 and is available on the disk as the file PARPLAN.WK3. Another version is available for LOTUS 123, version 2 Screen 1 under the file name PARPLAN.WK1. To use the spreadsheet start the appropriate version of LOTUS 123 on your IBM-compatible computer. Place the program disk in your floppy disk drive (usually drive A or B). Use the following LOTUS 123 command sequence to retrieve the file: FILE RETRIEVE Enter the name of the floppy disk drive and program file; for example, A:\parplan.wk3 if you are using LOTUS 123, version 3 and the program disk is in drive A; B: parplan.wk2 if you are using LOTUS 123, version 2 and the program disk is in drive B. A brief introduction and user instructions should appear on the screen. Hit the HOME key if this does not occur. The first screen should look like this: Milking Parlor Labor versus Capital Analysis by Douglas J. Reinemann, Extension Agricultural Engineer University of Wisconsin - Madison This spreadsheet estimates milking parlor costs and performance. Costs which can be calculated are: milking center buildings including parlor, holding area, milk room, utility room and office,freestall barn, milking parlor equipment including milking equipment, parlor stalls, entrance, exit and crowd gates, refrigeration and utility room equipment. Milking Labor costs are also calculated. The user inputs are in unprotected cells (green). Enter the actual numerical values of the variable or a range indicator 0=none, 1=low, 2=medium, 3=high. These reflect reasonable values for the corresponding variable. The user inputs are on the next three pages down (use page down key). Recalculation is done automatically whenever an input is changed. Output for an individual case example is given on the third page down. Output is also available for capital and annual (capital+labor) costs, parlor throughput, and milking time in the form of named graphs. To access graphs use the following command sequence(,graph,name,use). Read the instructions. Then proceed to the next page by using the PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard. The second screen contains user inputs for building and equipment cost and milking task times. Default values have been entered representing average or medium values for all inputs. All of these inputs may be specified by actual numeric values (dollars, seconds, or minutes depending on the input), or by indicators (0 for none, 1 for low, 2 for medium, 3 for high) corresponding to a reasonable range of values for the respective input. Change any inputs desired to correspond to your situation. The second screen should look like this:

7 Screen 2 BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT COSTS Enter actual dollar value or 0 for none, 1 for low, 2 for med, 3 for high Freestall Barn Cost 2 Milking Center Building Cost 2 Milk House Equipment Cost 2 Milking Equipment Cost 2 MILKING TASK TIMES Enter actual time or 1 for slow, 2 for med, 3 for fast Suggested Ranges Slow Medium Fast ReleaseReload side (secstall) 2 15 6 3 Prep and attach units (seccow) 2 40 30 20 Average milkout time (min) 2 7 6 5 Detach and post dip (seccow) 2 12 6 3 Milker efficiency (%) 2 80 85 90 Equipment Setup and Wash (min) 2 60 45 30 Move group from barn (min) 2 20 15 10 Change inputs as desired, then proceed to the next screen down by using the PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard. The third screen contains user inputs for labor and financial inputs. The values of these inputs are all actual values (the indicators used above will not work). Default values have been entered representing average or medium values for all inputs. The third screen looks like this: Screen 3 LABOR AND FINANCIAL INPUTS Milkings Per Day 3 Max Units per Side per operator 10 Labor Cost ($Hr) 10 Barn Stocking Density (%) 110 Capital Annualization factors Building Equipment Interest (%year) 12.0 12.0 Depreciation (%year) 5.0 10.0 Repairs (%year) 5.0 5.0 Taxes (%year) 1.5 0.0 Insurance (%year) 0.5 0.5 Number of cows to milk 300 Number of parlor stalls per side 8 Use multiples of 2 Change any inputs desired then proceed to the next screen down by using the PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard.

Screen 4 The fourth screen contains user inputs and output for the individual case analysis. The fourth screen looks like this: Individual Case Analysis Output Number of Cows to milk 300 Number of Parlor Stalls Per Side 8 Milkings per day 3 Parlor Throughput (cowshr) 67 Time for each milking (hrs) 4.7 Number of operators in Parlor 1 Labor cost ($hr) 10 Barn Stocking Density 110 Total Capital Total Annual capital per cow annual per cow Milking Center Cost 202,843 676 41,371 138 (Bldg.+Eqip.) Freestall Barn Cost 409,091 1,364 73,636 245 Milking Center + Barn Cost 611,934 2.040 115,008 383 Milking Labor Cost 40,939 170 Milking Center + Milking Labor Cost 92,310 308 Milking Center + Barn + Labor Cost 165,947 553 Enter the desired values for the herd and parlor sizes. To print a summary of the inputs and outputs for an individual analysis use the following command sequence: PRINT PRINTER GO General case output for herds from 50 to 600 milking cows and double-2 to double-20 milking parlors are available in the following graphs: PARLOR RATE MILKING TIME CAPITAL COST ANNUAL COST To display these graphs on the screen use the following command sequence: GRAPH NAME USE Select the name of the graph you would like to view and hit the ENTER key. Press the space bar to return to the spreadsheet. Graphs may be saved using the SAVE command after viewing the graph. If you would like to save a set of inputs values which is different from the defaults use the following command sequence: FILE SAVE If the file is replaced the default values will be lost. Give the file a new name to retain the original spread sheet with default values and create a second file with your input values. To exit the spreadsheet use the following command sequence: QUIT For further details on the use of LOTUS 123 consult the software instruction manual. Author: Douglas Reinemann is an assistant professor of agricultural engineering, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension. An equal opportunityaffirmative action employer, University of Wisconsin-Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX requirements. This publication is available from your Wisconsin county Extension office or from: Extension Publications, Rm. 245, 30 N. Murray St., Madison, WI 53715, (608)262-3346. A3574 Milking Center Advisor: Interactive software to estimate milking center costs and performance