42 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Fonterra Farm Source Sustainable Farming - milking machine maintenance An up-to-date business continuity plan will at least provide an identification of risks and their mitigations that can be rolled out. For the dairy farmer, there are many things that can impact the operation of a milking system. Richard Loader • to page 44 4 Industrial Place Oamaru For the dairy farmer, there are a myriad of things that could impact on the operation of a milking system. Cyclone Gabrielle is a stark reminder to us all that the unexpected can and does happen with dramatic speed; raising the question how well are we prepared for the unexpected? An up-to-date business continuity plan will at least provide an identification of risks and their mitigations that can be rolled out when and if the events actually occur, and hopefully serves as a living document that can be communicated to a wider audience. More than just a reactive tool for when the unexpected occur, a robust plan is also proactive and preventative, reducing stress for people and for the animals. Tim Johnstone, Fonterra’s Technical Advisor, broadly classifies these into internal and external factors. External factors include those extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall, snow, or high winds, causing power outages, equipment damage, or preventing the milk tankers getting to the shed. “Power outages can impact the milking system operation by causing equipment shutdown,” says Tim. “It can also lead to issues with milk cooling and storage, potentially impacting milk quality. Fonterra has electronic milk vat monitoring equipment on their vats that measures the milk’s temperature, and it provides farmers with an alert when temperatures are not what they should be. Key advice is, don’t ignore the alerts, they provide time to get the issues resolved by either contacting Fonterra, correcting a small fault, or getting the service agent out, without degradation in milk quality.”
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