Lactalign is a tool to prevent mastitis in dairy cows. It is a simple retrofit device that counters the often costly impact of uneven weight and vacuum distribution of a milking cluster.
Operating in conjunction with automatic cluster removal (ACR) and gently supporting the cluster, Lactalign is designed to counter the often-costly impact of uneven weight and vacuum distribution of a traditional milking cluster.
Lactalign helps protect herd health and drive the optimum performance of milking equipment for dairy farmers. Mastitis is the biggest disease cost on dairy farms. If individual cows have multiple mastitis cases across a lactation, the costs soon add up. Lactalign is an effective tool for its prevention.
Along with tackling mastitis, Lactalign helps improve animal comfort and with less liner slip, kick-offs and re-attachments, plus the subsequent time and labor savings for milking teams.
Manufactured from high-density polyurethane, the support eliminates any weight bias between the front and rear quarters, a problem that may go undetected, but can be the underlying cause of many of the increased mastitis incidences in the forequarters.The support takes the form of an individual pivot at each milking point. Once the cluster is attached, the milk and pulsator tubes are dropped into one of three slots in the support, largely driven by the shape of the animal’s udder. The ACR cord is placed in the same or a lower slot, so that when milking is completed and the ACR activates, the retracting cord causes the pivot to move back to its rest position.
Lactalign has completed over six million milkings to date. It has been installed on four NMR RABDF Gold Cup winning farms which is the leading dairy business competition in the UK.
Retrofitting Lactalign support at each milking point allows dairy clusters to run much smoother and with the increase in production gained they can pay for themselves within 3-4 months of operation.
Lactalign recently won a Gold Innovation Award at LAMMA 2023, the UK’s largest agri-tech show. Its practicality and ease of use were also recognised in the judges’ feedback when the device received a Highly Commended in the Innovation category at The Cream Awards 2022.
Lactalign has been independently tested and verified by international milking technology expert Ian Ohnstad of the Diary Group whose study showed that on one rotary parlour where Lactalign has been installed since December 2020, the device has resulted in a 59% reduction in liner slip, a 47% reduction in kick-offs, a 65% reduction in re-attachments and importantly, a 50% reduction in mastitis cases affecting the front quarters.
Full details, videos, FAQs, user feedback and results of the independent study are all available on the Lactalign website: www.lactalign.com
