Carbon dioxide levels in the working area of a cow milking parlor

Dimo Dimov, Toncho Penev and Ivaylo Marinov

Abstract: The study was conducted on a dairy cattle farm with capacity of 500 dairy cows in Bulgaria. The animals were reared under the conditions of free-stall housing system and milked in double-8 “Herringbone” type milkingparlor. Carbon dioxide levels were reported three times during each milking (at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the milking), with the measurements repeated during the morning, noon and evening milking, every month for a year. Carbon dioxide levels in the milkers working area were measured using a Lutron MCH-383SDB. The highest average values of carbon dioxide in the air inside the milking parlor were registered during the winter season (789.3 ppm) and partly during the autumn and spring seasons, which are transitional seasons, with the maximum reported value being 1451.0 ppm. The lowest values of carbon dioxide in the milking parlor were reported during the summer season – 432.3 ppm. The trend was similar to the reported levels of carbon dioxide outside the premises, but the values in the milking parlor were 2 to 3 times higher. The reported values of carbon dioxide in the working area of milking parlor gradually increased from the beginning to the end of the relevant milking.

Keywords: carbon dioxide; dairy cows; milking parlor; working environment

Date published: 2022-10-11