“Glycol takes heat off compliance"”

Waikato farmers Bill and Kay Aubrey spent years trying to get their milk chilling system working faster and better.

They wrapped vats, added plate coolers and upgraded to a 10kW chiller, but only achieved small gains. With milk still at around 10 degrees in the vat they knew they’d struggle to meet tougher regulations. 

“We were always on the borderline of being compliant. We knew it would really reduce our stress if we could properly manage our chilling,” says Bill. 

They decided to add a DeLaval glycol chiller, the CWC15-A, to their existing shed.

“The CWC15-A was installed in January 2020, and from day one our milk was an instant 5 degrees,” says Kay. “Now the tanker can come at 6.30am if they want to. They can come whenever and the milk is 5 degrees.” 

It’s a decision they wish they’d made at the beginning.

“If we’d known that this single investment would have such a dramatic impact, we would have done this three years ago,” says Bill.

As well as being confident they’re protecting milk quality, Bill says there’s been a huge difference in power usage.

“It’s a significant saving in real dollars terms. We’ve seen a consistent power saving of around 350 - 400 dollars a month just from adding the glycol unit.” 

Kay says she still checks the vat temperature after every milking, but only out of habit as the reading is always 5 degrees. 

“Meeting new regulations doesn’t normally result in less stress and in savings, but that’s truly what we’ve done,” she says.