Milk Producer April 2016 | Page 12

ENSURE YOUR WASH SYSTEM DOESN’T LEAVE YOU IN THE COLD By Rick Bosma A clean milk pipeline is important for delivering high-quality milk to processors. However, you may not always have time to grab a thermometer and stopwatch each time you do a pipe wash to ensure the water is warm enough and it stays that way long enough. While you may see steam rising off the sink filling with washwater on a cold winter day, you can’t assume it will stay that way as it makes its way around the barn. It is also a good idea to check your bulk tank’s temperature during a wash. These tank washes can take more than an hour. Fortunately, you have a Time Temperature Recorder (TTR) to check these temperatures at every wash, every day, all year long. While useful, there may be times when your TTR sounds an alarm and all you want to do is get on with your day and not be interrupted by the shrill howl of that box on the wall to remind you something has gone wrong. It’s easy enough to punch the button to silence the alarm and keep moving. However, it is likely trying to tell you what went wrong. TTRs in Ontario are generally setup to generate an alarm if a pipe wash does not reach at least 40C. Some of you are aware of the 40C requirement and may have been wondering why this number was chosen. When TTRs were introduced, many of the soaps or detergents recommended the water used for the wash be above that temperature. This was to ensure a clean pipeline after the wash. Most detergents recom- NOTICE: To keep Ontario dairy producers and other industry sectors informed, Dairy Farmers of Ontario publishes changes to its regulations. Complete regulations are available on DFO’s website at www.milk.org. : DFO Regulation 05/16 replaces DFO Regulation 04/16 and was made to adjust the price of Special Milk Classes as a result of a CDC announcement, effective Apr. 1, 2016 as follows: 5(a) 5(b) 5(c) 7.2320 7.2320 3.9847 7.2313 7.2313 4.5791 Ralph Dietrich Chair 4.9979 5.3838 1.8100 1.8930 1.4471 1.5922 Graham Lloyd Secretary DAIRY FARMERS OF ONTARIO 12 0.1544 1.8100 1.4471 APRIL 2016 | MILKPRODUCER 0.1200 1.8930 1.5922 mend this temperature be maintained for a certain amount of time so the chemicals have enough time to do their job. This is the reason the TTR will tell you even though the temperature went over 40C, it did not see the temperature stay over that level long enough. By default, most systems in Ontario require the wash water to sta B