VistaMilk Research Ireland Centre has announced a major new multi-year research programme focused on optimising milking technology to the individual cow. The project builds on a strong and productive industry collaboration with Dairymaster that has been in place since Phase I of VistaMilk.

VistaMilk is Ireland’s national centre for science and digital innovation in pasture-based dairy, delivering research, tools and validated technologies that improve sustainability, productivity and global competitiveness. VistaMilk is uniquely co-funded by Research Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and is hosted by Teagasc.

The overarching objective of the project is to optimise milking equipment by tailoring machine settings to individual cow lactation physiology. By aligning milking technology more closely with animal-level characteristics, the research aims to deliver benefits for farmers, milking operators and, critically, cow comfort and milk quality.

The research will explore how key milking machine settings combined with new and developing sensor technologies interact with individual cow characteristics such as milk flow, over-milking, cow comfort, stage of lactation and teat traits during routine milking. By combining new data with extensive findings from VistaMilk Phase I, the project will use advanced data analysis and machine learning to better understand how individual cows respond to different milking settings. This will support the development of smarter, adaptive and more responsive milking strategies to improve efficiencies, animal welfare and milk quality.

Industry collaboration is a central part of the programme, with Dairymaster working closely with the research team to support on-farm studies and help translate research findings into practical solutions.

John Upton, Funded Investigator with VistaMilk and Teagasc researcher, said; “the research-industry collaboration demonstrates the value of long-term partnerships that provide a strong scientific continuity from VistaMilk Phase I, while allowing teams under Phase II to move decisively towards cow-specific optimisation and real-world impact.”

John Daly of Dairymaster, highlighted the importance of co-developing solutions that are grounded in farm reality. He said; “the project will help ensure that future milking technologies are not only more efficient, but also more responsive to animal needs and farmer objectives.”