Fresh Milk Sampling for Centralized Milk Testing

A 2-yr study of 384 milk producers on nine milk routes was undertaken to investigate fresh milk (unpreserved) sampling for centralized milk testing for payment purposes. Duration of the mixing period in the farm bulk tank was a major variable in obtaining fresh milk samples for analysis. Automatic sampling comparable to sampling from bulk tanks agitated for 10 min. The sampling frequency required for a mean milk fat content representative of each herd was calculated from the standard deviation of the fat test in the herds. The distribution of accuracies among herds varied with frequency of testing. At four samples per month 53.7, 89.8, 97.7, and 98.1% of the herds had accuracies within 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5% of the annual mean. If herd standard deviations could be reduced to .2% or less with improved mixing, 59.2, 98.9, and 100% of the herds would have had accuracies within 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% of the annual mean by four tests per month. Tests on fresh milk gave higher averages than those on composite samples by .035, .037 and .025% for fat, protein, and lactose. Fresh milk sampling is technically feasible by automatic sampling or by manual sampling and improved agitation. Either could improve results of the present composite system.