How to Optimise Milk Production in Dairy Cows

By Dr Duncan Houston

Getting more milk from your cows starts with making it easier for them to eat, drink, rest and stay healthy. Feed matters enormously, but so do sore feet, muddy tracks, uncomfortable bedding and the temperature in the holding yard.

The aim is high, sustainable production of quality milk from healthy cows, with good fertility and a long productive life. A useful improvement should also make financial sense after feed, labour, treatment and replacement costs.

Quick Answer

Optimise milk production by balancing the ration to your cows’ needs, protecting feed and water intake, providing comfortable housing and controlling heat stress, mastitis and lameness. Monitor milk volume alongside fat and protein yield, somatic cell count, body condition, disease and fertility. Your herd’s best production level depends on genetics, stage of lactation, climate and farm system, so set targets with your dairy vet and nutritionist.

Start by measuring the right things

A rising bulk tank total can hide problems if you have simply added more cows or more cows have recently calved.

Compare similar groups by breed, lactation number and days since calving. Track:

• Milk yield and kilograms of fat and protein per cow.

• Individual cow somatic cell counts and bulk milk cell count.

• Feed intake, feed costs and saleable milk.

• Body condition, lameness and disease events.

• Pregnancy performance, deaths and involuntary removals from the herd.

Set farm-specific targets and review trends. One exceptional milking tells you less than consistent performance across a lactation.

Feed for production and a healthy rumen

Cows need sufficient energy, usable protein, effective fibre, minerals and vitamins. The balance must suit their size, milk production, pregnancy status and stage of lactation.

Have forages analysed. A load of silage can look much the same while its moisture and nutritional value have changed enough to alter the ration.

Feed type	Useful role	What needs attention
Grazed pasture	Often a valuable source of energy and protein	Seasonal quality, grazing access, pasture allowance and intake
Grass silage and hay	Supply forage and fibre	Digestibility, harvest maturity, storage losses and spoilage
Maize silage	Supplies forage and starch energy	Needs balancing for protein, minerals and the rest of the ration
Cereal grains	Increase energy supply	Excess or abrupt increases can increase ruminal acidosis risk
Protein meals, such as canola or soybean meal	Help correct a protein shortfall	Additional protein is useful only when the overall ration requires it

Pasture, grain and protein supplements should complement each other. More protein is not automatically better, particularly where pasture already supplies substantial rumen-degradable protein.

For housed herds, check that the total mixed ration actually eaten matches the formulation. Sorting, inaccurate weighing, changing silage moisture and empty feed barriers can undermine an excellent ration on paper. Make dietary changes gradually and preserve enough effective fibre to support rumination.

Treat water as a production priority

Milk is approximately 87% water. Restricted drinking access can undermine feeding and cooling, even when plenty of water exists elsewhere on the farm.

Provide clean water day and night, with multiple accessible drinking points. Check trough refill rates when demand is highest, especially after milking and during hot weather.

Watch the quieter cows. A trough is not truly accessible if dominant animals block the approach. Test water quality where contamination or salinity is a concern, and keep the surrounding area well drained.

Lower somatic cell count by improving udder health

Somatic cells are mainly white blood cells and cells shed from udder tissue. Increased counts commonly reflect inflammation associated with mastitis.

Two measurements serve different purposes:

• Individual cow SCC helps identify cows requiring investigation. Repeated results above approximately 200,000 cells/mL raise concern for an intramammary infection.

• Bulk milk cell count reflects the milk entering the tank. A result below 200,000 cells/mL is a useful general herd goal, with a lower farm target agreed where achievable.

These are management benchmarks, not universal processor acceptance limits. Your milk buyer’s requirements still apply.

A low bulk count can also conceal individual infected cows. Use regular herd testing, mastitis records and appropriate milk sampling to identify new infections and persistent cases.

Work with your vet on treatment, segregation and dry-off decisions. Review dry cow therapy and teat sealant use as a planned programme, including hygienic administration and appropriate antibiotic selection.

Cell count and bacterial count are different

A low SCC does not prove that raw milk has a low bacterial count or is free of pathogens.

Bacterial quality also depends on clean teats, effective cleaning of the milking plant and tank, and prompt milk cooling. Investigate high bacterial results separately, including cleaning performance, equipment condition and cooling capacity.

Make every milking consistent

A calm, repeatable routine supports milk let-down and udder health.

Train everyone to:

• Wear clean gloves and check foremilk for abnormalities.

• Prepare teats using the farm’s hygiene protocol and appropriate disinfectant contact time.

• Dry teats thoroughly with a separate clean towel for each cow.

• Attach units after adequate stimulation and align them correctly.

• Avoid prolonged overmilking.

• Apply post-milking teat disinfectant with complete coverage.

Have vacuum, pulsation, liners and automatic take-offs checked by a qualified technician. Record treatments accurately and keep abnormal milk and milk under a withholding period out of the saleable supply.

Provide housing cows actually want to use

Comfortable cows need enough space to feed, drink, lie down and rise without injury or competition.

In cubicle or freestall systems, provide at least one suitable, usable resting place per cow as a practical starting point, with particular care to avoid crowding transition cows. Stall dimensions must suit the animals using them.

Look for clean, dry, cushioned lying surfaces, good ventilation and secure footing. Hock injuries, swollen knees, dirty udders and cows standing partly in stalls suggest that the accommodation needs assessment.

Many housed dairy cows seek around 12 to 14 hours of lying time daily. Treat this as a useful comfort benchmark, interpreted alongside the farming system and the cow’s health. Long milking queues and excessive time restrained reduce opportunities to eat and rest.

Manage bedding, manure and drainage together. Expensive bedding still needs regular maintenance.

Terrain and tracks can limit production

Steep, long or damaged routes can make daily movement harder, especially for lame cows and those recovering from calving.

Maintain laneways with a firm base, a comfortable surface and drainage that prevents standing water. Repair potholes, remove sharp stones and address slippery turns and bottlenecks.

Where possible, allocate nearby, accessible paddocks to vulnerable groups. Move cows at their own walking pace and avoid crowding them from behind. A cow carefully choosing where to put her feet needs space to do so.

Keep hoof care proactive

Lameness is painful and can reduce a cow’s willingness to walk to feed, water or the dairy.

Use regular locomotion scoring and arrange prompt examination when gait changes. Schedule preventative hoof assessment and trimming according to housing, hoof growth and herd history, using trained personnel.

Treatment depends on the lesion. Sole ulcers, white line disease, foot rot and digital dermatitis require different approaches. Pain relief and reducing pressure on an affected claw may be important; antibiotics are not needed for every lame cow.

Review walking distance and recovery accommodation. A footbath may help control particular infectious hoof diseases, but it cannot repair a painful sole lesion or replace individual treatment.

Plan for heat before milk production falls

Heat stress reduces feed intake and can affect milk production, fertility and health. High-producing cows generate substantial metabolic heat, so conditions that seem tolerable to people may still challenge them.

Provide:

• Sufficient shade for the whole group without excessive crowding.

• Good airflow in housing and holding areas.

• Properly designed fans and sprinklers where appropriate.

• Reliable drinking access.

• Feeding opportunities during cooler periods.

• Shorter waiting times and less unnecessary movement during hot conditions.

Cooling systems need adequate drainage so they do not leave bedding wet and dirty. Use forecasts and cow observations to activate the farm’s heat plan early. Rapid breathing, crowding around water and reduced feeding deserve attention.

Include dry cows in cooling plans. Heat exposure before calving can reduce milk production in the following lactation.

Protect against cold, rain and mud as well

Cold conditions become more challenging when cows are wet, exposed to wind or losing body condition.

Provide shelter from driving rain and wind, dry resting areas and adequate feed. Review energy requirements during prolonged cold weather, particularly for thinner cows. Sheltered paddocks and windbreaks can reduce exposure.

Protect the weeks around calving

Production depends heavily on how well cows move from the dry period into lactation.

Plan dry-cow feeding, body condition and calving accommodation before problems develop. Avoid excessive condition gain before calving and monitor excessive condition loss afterwards.

Recently calved cows need easy access to suitable feed, water and comfortable resting space. Check them daily, particularly during the first two weeks, for reduced appetite, abnormal milk, reduced rumination, weakness or abnormal discharge.

Your vet can design monitoring for ketosis, hypocalcaemia, metritis and other transition diseases. Do not wait until peak milk yield to discover that the transition programme is underperforming.

For appropriate herds, a carefully formulated pre-calving mineral programme, sometimes including anionic salts, can reduce milk fever risk. This requires nutritional supervision and monitoring, rather than simply adding a mineral product.

Which supplements are worth considering?

Choose supplements to solve a demonstrated nutritional or management problem.

Supplement	When it may be useful	Main limitation
Minerals and vitamins	Correcting an identified dietary shortfall	Unnecessary excess can be harmful
Rumen buffers	Supporting selected rations with increased acidosis risk	Cannot replace adequate effective fibre
Supplemental fat	Increasing energy density where appropriate	Excess or unsuitable fat can impair rumen function and intake
Selected yeast products or probiotics	Supporting rumen function in particular feeding conditions	Benefits vary with product, ration and circumstances

Review the complete ration with a nutritionist before combining products. Supplements already present in concentrates must be included in the calculation.

Measure whether an addition improves milk solids, health or feed efficiency enough to justify its cost. A supplement cannot compensate for restricted water or inadequate cooling.

Build disease resistance into the herd plan

Use a veterinary prevention programme covering vaccination, parasite risks, incoming cattle, calving hygiene and staff procedures. Identify sick animals promptly and manage them to limit disease spread.

For long-term improvement, select genetics suited to your environment and feeding system. Include fertility, mastitis resistance, longevity and functional traits alongside milk production. Dairy Australia’s breeding guidance includes both balanced performance and health-focused selection approaches.

What does a fall in milk production mean?

Pattern	Possible explanations	Action
Gradual decline with advancing lactation, cows otherwise well	Expected lactation changes or ration mismatch	Compare with the expected curve and review nutrition
Sudden decline across a group	Water or feed interruption, heat, equipment problems or disease	Check shared resources immediately and contact your vet if unexplained
One cow drops milk and eats less	Mastitis, lameness, ketosis or another illness	Examine promptly and seek veterinary advice the same day
Abnormal milk with severe weakness, collapse or breathing difficulty	Potentially serious systemic illness	Call your vet urgently

When is this an emergency?

A cow that cannot rise, is severely bloated, struggles to breathe or appears collapsed needs immediate veterinary attention. Severe mastitis can cause illness throughout the body, including shock.

Keep the animal safe and comfortable while help is arranged. Do not force a weak or down cow to walk or administer oral drenches if she cannot swallow normally.

A practical improvement plan

1. Establish the baseline: review recent production, milk quality, feed costs, disease and fertility records.

2. Walk the farm at busy times: inspect water, feed access, resting areas, tracks and the holding yard.

3. Find the main constraint: use your vet, nutritionist and milking technician to identify where production is being lost.

4. Make targeted changes: assign responsibilities and record implementation dates.

5. Review the response: monitor daily welfare and production, then assess longer-term milk quality, disease and financial results.

Use activity and rumination alerts where available, but check the cow behind the alert. Record-keeping works best when someone is responsible for acting on changes.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Increasing grain abruptly when milk drops.

• Treating a low bulk SCC as proof that every udder is healthy.

• Overcrowding to increase total tank volume.

• Waiting for severe lameness before examining feet.

• Buying supplements before checking feed and water access.

• Judging success by litres while overlooking milk solids, fertility and costs.

How much milk should each cow produce?

There is no single ideal daily figure. Breed, parity, stage of lactation, diet and farm system all matter. Benchmark comparable cows and agree realistic production and health targets with your advisers.

Can I increase milk by feeding more grain?

Sometimes, when energy supply is limiting and the ration remains balanced. Excess grain, poor adaptation or inadequate effective fibre can disrupt rumen health. Assess the expected response and feed cost before increasing it.

What is the fastest way to reduce a high cell count?

Identify the cows contributing to the rise through individual testing and investigate the cause. Withholding selected cows’ milk may lower the tank count immediately, but preventing new infections and managing existing ones are necessary for lasting improvement.

Is pasture or indoor housing better?

Either can support a healthy, productive herd when well managed. Choose and manage the system around climate, feed supply, terrain, labour and cow comfort. Check the conditions cows actually experience throughout the day.

ASK A VET™ supports informed animal-health decisions. Bring your production records, cell counts, disease history and feeding details to a discussion with your dairy vet so improvements are tailored to your cows and your farm.