A device to help prevent mastitis that was developed by a North Yorkshire firm in conjunction with a local farm has won an award.

Lactalign, a device designed to counter the often costly impact of uneven weight and vacuum distribution of a milking cluster, scooped a Gold Award at LAMMA 2023 in the Livestock Innovation category.

Mastitis is still the biggest disease cost on dairy farms and Lactalign is a simple but effective addition to the milking parlour tool that can help in the prevention of mastitis.

Now installed on four NMR RABDF Gold Cup winning farms and having done 6,099,040 million milkings to date, Lactalign is helping to control the disease among high-yielding herds.

The entries were judged by an independent panel of industry experts according to a range of criteria including design innovation, practical impact, the sustainability of the product and its impact on the environment

James Hudson, managing director of JF Hudson Ltd, which is based at Newton-le-Willows, said: “We are extremely proud to receive the LAMMA Innovation Award for Lactalign. It’s a fantastic accolade. We are delighted that LAMMA has recognised the innovation that went into developing Lactalign as at JF Hudson we pride ourselves on taking the initiative on problem solving for farmers.

“Helping farmers to maximise their operations while reducing inputs motivates us when designing products. Lactalign is a prime example of keeping that in mind to come up with a simple device that will provide the solution without adding extra time, labour or costs by using it.”

The product was developed after the herd management software used by Metcalfe Farms in North Yorkshire revealed twice as many mastitis cases in front quarters compared to the rear quarters, despite the herd having below average cases overall.

The farm approached local design and agricultural engineering firm JF Hudson to help with a solution, which was trialled on the farm’s BouMatic rotary parlour.

Lactalign was installed on all 72 points of the Metcalfe Farms rotary milking parlour at Washfold Farm in December 2020. The device has resulted in a 59 per cent reduction in liner slip, a 47 per cent reduction in kick-offs, a 65 per cent reduction in re-attachments and a 50 per cent reduction in mastitis cases in front quarters.

Philip Metcalfe, who runs the 1,300-cow dairy unit on this diverse family business, said: “The significant impact has been better than we could have expected or even hoped for. They have paid for themselves several times over in the reduction of mastitis but also reduce operator frustration and improved animal comfort with less liner slip, kick-offs and re-attachments.”

For information on the award-winning product, visit lactalign.com.