IQ - A new way to milk!

IQ - (Individual Quarter) the world’s first four-way milking cluster from GEA Farm Technologies, is set to revolutionise dairy farming.

This innovative milking technology works by utilising a new lightweight 4-way cluster design which allows each individual teat of a cow to be milked separately.

As the teat cup shells account for 80% of the weight and the remaining 20% the cluster, the centre of gravity is evenly balanced so that adhesion to the udder is optimised. This achieves a quicker and more uniform milking out of all quarters, with less stress on teat and udder tissue and an increase in milk throughput which, the manufacturers claim, should also result in an improvement in udder health, and parlour milking routines.

The flexible part of the teat liners milk tubes are twice as long as in conventional designs and are made from highly flexible silicone, so that they will fit easily to any udder shape or teat configuration. Pulsation tubes are fitted internally to give the cluster a particularly slim shape, this makes it practically impossible for it to be kicked off during milking.

As soon as the teat cup is applied, a ball mechanism activates the vacuum for each individual quarter to start milking, but immediately switching that section off in the event either the cup or the whole cluster becomes detached. This device effectively isolates each quarter, preventing cross contamination from teat to teat and helping to stop dirt, pathogens or large amounts of air from getting into the system.

This minimises milking machine induced intra-mammary infections between infected and uninfected quarters.

Combining the advantages of a claw-piece and individual quarter milking, IQ looks set to become a great attraction at its Dairy Event and Livestock Show 2009 introduction.