Flexible milking offering South Island farmers better work-life balance

DairyNZ senior scientist Paul Edwards said flexible milking describes patterns that fall between the standard once or twice-a-day frequencies. Photo / DairyNZ

By Stephanie Ockhuysen of RNZ

DairyNZ research shows more than 40% of Canterbury and Otago-Southland farmers have moved to flexible milking to allow for better work-life balance.

DairyNZ has tracked farmers adjusting their milking frequency depending on changing conditions, workplace enjoyment and better staff retention.

Senior scientist at DairyNZ Paul Edwards said flexible milking described patterns that fell between the standard once or twice-a-day frequencies, which had been around for a long time.

“The most common one is probably milking three times in two days or three in two as we call it, but there are variations of that such as milking 10 times in seven days which sets a weekly pattern.”

Edwards said they conducted a study on a small range of farms to see how flexible milking affected sleeping patterns and found on average farmers got an extra 30 minutes of sleep per night.

He said whether farmers gave flexible milking a go was down to personal preference.

“Some people like to spend the afternoon with the kids and then go back out and milk afterwards, others want to get the day wrapped up really early and others want to have that sleep-in element of every second day.

“It’s very much a case of different strokes for different folks.”

Edwards said at a national level about 21% of farmers were using flexible milking during part of the season, but there is a bit of regional variation.

- RNZ