Why Time is Money and the Value of Pipeline Milkers on a Micro Dairy

Reader Contribution by Steve Judge
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Traditional farming wisdom says that time is free. So, it’s OK for farmers to spend time to save money. Following this train of thought, a farmer can spend all day doing chores as long as no money is spent. Are you with me?

This logic has long been applied to the types of milking systems that dairy farmers traditionally invest in. Often times, this ideology leads busy dairy farmers with a few to 50 cows to milk with bucket milkers (instead of installing a pipeline system) because the bucket system is cheaper. You can see where I am going.

Unfortunately, time is no longer without value. In fact, it is quite valuable, especially for people like me, and most small-scale farmers, who work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Check out Part 7 in my series on starting a micro-dairy for more on financial planning.

Let’s say you value your time at $20 per hour. (Maybe this is what you are paid at one of your jobs). Every hour you save in a day represents a $20 return on your investment. Using this math, milking with a pipeline system instead of buckets can save a dairy farmer at least two hours or $40 per day, $280 a week, $1,120 per month or $13,440 per year. You can easily recoup the cost of a used pipeline system, which costs between $5,000 to $10,000, in one year. Even if a pipeline system saves you only one hour per day, that’s $6,720 a year.

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