With a full-sized dairy goat or cow, one can get away with milking once a day. “It’s not an entirely new concept. Downfalls of milking a cow or goat once a day: You’ll get less milk. Which should supply an adequate amount of milk for one's need but with non-dairy sheep it is almost essential to milk twice a day after the lambs are weaned. Dan usually milks around 1 p.m., but Cliff figures anytime during the heat of the day is just fine. In a sheep, the teat holds very little milk so, if you are not punching up into the udder, in a fairly assertive manner, you will be there all day milking. When milking sheep there is always the question of should I milk once or twice a day. When milking sheep there is always the question of should I milk once or twice a day. When actually milking a sheep, it is important to punch up into the udder to 'catch' that milk before you constrict your fingers around the base of the teat. Which should supply an adequate amount of milk for one's need but with non-dairy sheep it is almost essential to milk twice a day after the lambs are weaned. Beyond that, there are some feeding concerns. Married to Noreen, he has been operating this system since 2012. Donal O’Loughlin milks a herd of crossbred cows under a once-a-day (OAD) milking system in Rossmore, Ballymacarbry, Co. Tipperary. Teagasc’s Brian Hilliard spoke of the growing interest in OAD milking at last week’s  Moorepark ’17  open day. Breeding was also focused on at the recent Teagasc Once a Day milking seminar, with Dairy farmer, Donal O’Loughlin, from Ballymacarby in Co. Tipperary stating that he found a 50/50 Jersey/Friesian cross at a weight of 500kgs was the ideal cow for OAD. Some cows tend to hold back milk when they know their calf is around the corner. “Milking time is at least 15-20% longer with once-a-day,” Cliff says. Donal, along with his brother Seamus, took over the family’s farm in 1994. With a full-sized dairy goat or cow, one can get away with milking once a day. Our excellent milkers will give us consistent production between 4-5 pounds until the middle of May (during their first two months in-milk), averaging about 3 pounds a day from March until the end of July. Our ewes start their milking season giving us  3-1/2 to 5 pounds of milk per day (once-a-day milking). For a number of reasons, once-a-day (OAD) milking is becoming an attractive option for Irish dairy farmers.