With the new milk cooling regulations, what are your options with Nind Dairy Services?
What are the new milk regulations?
All farms from 1st June 2018 must have raw milk:
- Cooled to 10’c or below within four hours of the commencement of milking
- And be cooled to 6’c or below within six hours from the commencement of milking OR two hours from the completion of milking
- And be held at or below 6’c without freezing until collection or the next milking
- And must not exceed 10’c during subsequent milking
New milk cooling standards come into effect on all farms across New Zealand on the 1st June 2018.
Not only are milk cooling regulations coming in at a national level, but individual milking companies such as Mataura, are having their own milk cooling regulations to ensure their milk is up to standard.
Why is milk cooling so important?
Quick and efficient milk cooling is essential to maintain milk quality, prevent bacterial growth and avoid constituent changes during processing. Naturally occurring bacteria in the milk start multiplying straight away, and if temperatures rise above 4’c, the amount of bacterial growth can be exponential. Because bacterial growth is seriously reduced at below 4’c, Mataura’s milking standard is to have all milk at below 4.4’c within two hours of milking. This ensures milk has a stronger life shelf and is a higher quality product.
Bacterial Milk Quality Compliance and the Regulatory Issues:
- Bactoscan (bacteria count, milk chilling related)
- Thermoduric (heat resistant bacteria)
- Coliforms (wet weather / manure bacteria)
How can Nind Dairy Services help?
Nind Dairy Services can firstly assess your current set up to see if you meet the new regulations, and if not, can discuss the different options to help you meet the regulations.
Nind Dairy Services supply and service a full range of cooling systems. If your current cooling system doesn’t meet the new milking regulations, Nind Dairy can recommend you a secondary cooling option that may include heat recovery (giving you the added benefit of hot water as a by-product of the cooling process). A new set up may also be more energy efficient and could save you up to 37% when compared to standard vat chillers.
Snap chilling all milk immediately upon harvest to 6’c is the most reliable method of meeting the new milk cooling standards and will give you peace of mind. Glycol chilling (snap chilling) with the AquaCHILL snap chiller is one simple retrofit option that might work really well on your farm. It’s a ‘plug and play’ solution that is incredibly versatile. The AquaTESS system is an energy efficient option that uses thermal energy storage and can be configured in many options and sizes that might work well for you.
Milk cooling accounts for approx. a third of power costs, so it’s important to consider the options and keep your equipment up to date as old equipment can be inefficient in terms of energy usage. With the new regulations coming into place, it is more important than ever to get your system assessed and get onto having a milk cooling system that meets the new milk cooling standards.
