Dairy farm worker milking equipment training with an E-learning system

In many farms, the logistics of on-farm training are a limiting factor due to communication challenges in the workplace (i.e., cultural differences, language barriers, impaired listening skills) and limited access to industry professionals. The use of E-learning systems may help to improve communication and can be sensitive to cultural challenges. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify how many of the high-priority problems in the milking parlor relate to milker training in the areas of milking equipment and milking routine, (2) design and test an E-learning training system for dairy farm milkers related to milking equipment, and (3) gain feedback targeted to improve subsequent E-learning training modules. An interactive online training course on basic checks of the milking equipment was developed with a cloud-based authoring software. A total of 95 dairy farm workers on 15 commercial dairy farms in northern New York State (USA) were trained and participated in the study. Milk quality professionals performed an initial evaluation of 3 main areas: equipment analysis, milker assessment, and cow assessment. The 3 most important risk factors for mastitis were summarized for each farm. A training event was scheduled with milkers guided by a bilingual (English and Spanish) professional in milk quality. Over 50% of the farms (8/15) had one or more of the top 3 priorities involving problems with milking equipment, which milkers could have detected and reported to management. All participants completed the module, 95% stated that they felt capable of checking the equipment before milking, and 86% felt more confident in reporting equipment problems to the manager after having taken the course. There were also differences between managers' and milkers' statements on how and whether milking equipment training was offered or not on the farm. This can be explained due to the lack of or secondary to poor communication between managers and employees on training objectives and goals on the farm. Our results also show that milking equipment issues which milkers could detect and report are common on dairy farms and reinforces the need for additional milker training in this area.