Herds that perform authenticated milk recording with CIS, NMR, United or QMMS should follow the steps below so that all herd event data from the inter-recording period is transferred to the milk recording agency.
When the test results are available, the data should be uploaded to your FarmWizard account to complete the process. After upload, you will be able to use the test data in your herd analysis reports.
If you have have more than one milk recorded herd in your FarmWizard account, you may need to repeat the steps for each one. Change to each herd using the Herd Manager > Change Herd function.
The milk recording steps in more detail:
1. Ensure all recent herd events have been recorded on FarmWizard
FarmWizard is a farm-based recording system. This means that herd events are entered into FarmWizard as they occur and then transferred to the milk recording agency on the test date. You should make sure that all the following events have been entered for the inter-recording period.
Breeding events, including calvings, with the detail for each calf - ideally including brand number (line number) for retained heifer calves
Herd entry events - cows purchased into the herd
Herd exit events - cows culled/sold from the herd
If lameness and mastitis events have been recorded in FarmWizard, these will also be included in the data export.
When daily yields are being imported from an auto-parlour, go to the calendar view on Dairy Manager > View/Update to check that yields are present for the last 7 days. If the daily milk yields have been entered into FarmWizard, either manually or by auto-parlour import, these yields will be included in the data export
2. Create the herd events data file
This should be created on the day of the milk sampling and handed to your milk recording technician on a memory stick or emailed as directed by your milk recording agency.
If you have more than one milk recorded herd in your FarmWizard account, use the Herd Manager > Current Herd menu to change to each herd in turn to repeat the following steps.
To create the herd events file, proceed as follows:
Go to the Dairy Manager main menu and click on Data Transfer under the Milk Records page heading.
3. Import the milk test results when available
When you have been notified that the milk test results are available, log in to your account on your milk recording agency's web site, and download the latest "datastream file".
Save the file to a suitable folder on your computer. The file name is "DSMEMBER.EXE" (you might not be able to see the "EXE" file extension, depending on your Microsoft Windows settings).
To upload your milk test results, go to the Dairy Manager main menu and click on Data Transfer under the Milk Records page heading.
If you have more than one milk recorded herd in your FarmWizard account, use the Herd Manager > Current Herd menu to change to each herd in turn to repeat the following steps. You can check the herd recording number is correct before uploading the file, however the FarmWizard system performs checks to prevent the wrong datastream from being uploaded.
Milk Reports
Reports for production and milk quality are found from the main Reports menu, under the Milk Records sub-menu.