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First Milk members can be proud of the quality of the milk they produce. But keeping on top of everything to ensure the constant production of quality milk isn’t always easy.

Changing cluster liners on a regular basis is one of those essential tasks to maintain good milk hygiene, but it can be a fiddly and time consuming job and one that is easily delayed until tomorrow . . . or next week. This is where First Milk Direct’s cluster exchange comes in.

All members have to do is sign up to the scheme and every 2500 milkings -the time when liners should be replaced - a new box of clusters arrives in the post. The new ones are replaced and the old ones are sent back. Then you can relax knowing that a vital part of your dairy business - the only part where the milking machine connects with the cow – is as effective and efficient as it can be.

Clive Prichard, who keeps 180 milking cows at Keepers Lodge Farm, near Chepstow in Monmouthshire, thinks the scheme is excellent. For a one-off cost of £50 per cluster to begin with, and £27 after that it saves him a huge amount of time, and ensures he changes the liners on time, every time. Milk quality has also improved since joining the scheme.

“I used to buy liners and replace them but it was a lot of work and was a job that was easily neglected,” he says. “Now the boxes come and I replace them. The job gets done,” he adds. “I can do the job in 15 to 20 minutes instead of spending several hours doing the liners.”

But it isn’t only time that he has saved.

His bactoscans and cell counts are also better, with bactoscans down 15 points on average and SCCs down between 50 and 80 points. He has also had fewer cases of mastitis, and milking times have become more enjoyable.

“Very little air escapes from the clusters so they stay on better and fewer clusters get kicked off. Milking is a lot easier. And if the clusters do get a kicking they don’t fall apart like my old ones did at times as they are very well made.”

Cost wise Mr Prichard says he used to pay about £20 every time for liners, so he now pays about £7 more for the complete cluster unit. The time saving, milk quality improvements and reduced hassle during milking more than makes up for the additional cost, he says. “It’s a good scheme. I’d recommend it as a very useful management tool.”