Dairy Management Software: Milk Recording, Lactation & SCC Tracking Free
Dairy farm management software for producers who need per-milking records, lactation curves, somatic cell count history, milk sales, and production reports — without a per-cow subscription. Log parlor data in batch or one cow at a time, dry off on schedule, and keep breeding and health in the same system.
Dairy Production — Today
86 milkingMilking sessions supported
Per-cow cell count logs
Day lactation default
Unlimited dairy cows
Milk Production Tracking Per Milking or Daily Total
Generic farm apps treat milk like any other inventory line. Dairy producers need per-cow, per-milking history — morning and evening weights, optional third milking, and a running lactation total that actually matches what the cow did in the parlor.
Cattly's milk recording module stores each entry with animal ID, date, session (morning, noon, evening), volume, and active lactation cycle. Choose per-session recording when you weigh each milking separately, or daily total when you only have one number per cow per day. Display units follow your farm: liters, gallons, or kilograms.
Batch milk recording is built for parlor workflow: walk the line once, enter the string, save. Individual create and edit screens work when you need to fix one cow or log a hospital pen separately. Discarded milk (treated cow, abnormal let-down, dump bucket) gets flagged with a reason so herd averages stay honest.
Every milk record can include
Volume & session
Quantity per milking, session label, record date, link to lactation #
Milk components
Fat %, protein %, lactose % when your lab or inline meter provides them
Somatic cell count
Individual SCC per test — flagged above 200,000 cells/mL by default
Discard tracking
Mark milk as discarded with reason — excluded from production totals
Days in milk (DIM) calculates automatically from calving date on each record, so you always know lactation stage when reviewing yields.
Lactation cycle management from fresh cow to dry-off
Each lactation cycle ties calving, milk records, peak yield, and dry-off into one record. Lactation number increments automatically. Status moves from active to dry to completed as the cow progresses through her year.
Manage Lactation Curves, Peak Milk, and Dry-Off Dates
A cow that never peaks by 60 days in milk is telling you something — nutrition, health, or genetics. Without lactation software that rolls milk records into peak date, peak quantity, average daily milk, and total produced, you are guessing which cows to cull.
Cattly recalculates lactation totals from non-discarded milk records. Dry-off captures date and reason (scheduled, production-based, health). Expected dry-off uses your configured lactation length — typically 305 days — so you can plan pen moves before the next calving. Calving difficulty, calf gender, and calf status stay on the lactation record for heifer-raising decisions.
Dairy calving records connect through the reproduction journey: calve a dairy cow, optionally start lactation immediately, and jump to milk records from the same workflow. No re-entering tag numbers in a second app.
Per-animal lactation history
View all lactations for a cow from her profile page
Dry-off scheduling
Default 60-day dry period before next calving — configurable per farm
Peak identification
Highest single milking stored as peak date and peak quantity
Days in milk on every record
DIM shown when entering and reviewing milk data
Configure Your Parlor: Sessions, Targets, and Reproduction Defaults
One-size-fits-all dairy software assumes every farm milks twice a day at 6 AM and 6 PM. Cattly dairy settings match how your operation actually runs.
Milking configuration
- Milking frequency: once, twice, or three times daily
- Enabled sessions: morning, noon, evening
- Custom time windows per session
- Recording mode: per session or daily total
- Milk unit: liters, gallons, or kg
Quality & targets
- Toggle fat, protein, lactose, SCC fields
- Target daily production per cow
- Target fat and protein percentages
- SCC threshold (default 200,000)
- Milk solids calculated on records
Reproduction & lactation defaults
- Default lactation length (305 days)
- Dry period length (60 days)
- Voluntary waiting period (45 days)
- Gestation length (283 days)
- Heat detection interval (21 days)
Track SCC, Components, and Milk Quality Premiums
Bulk tank SCC is a herd average — it hides the four cows driving your penalty. Dairy record keeping software should store individual test-day SCC so you can sort chronic offenders before the cooperative letter arrives.
Log fat and protein on milk records and milk sales. Cooperatives pay on components; you need history per cow to negotiate genetics and nutrition changes. For SNF estimates from field readings, use the free SNF dairy calculator alongside your stored records.
When a cow's milk must be dumped — fresh antibiotic treatment, bloody milk, off-flavor — mark the record as discarded. Production reports exclude discarded volume so averages reflect saleable milk only.
Why SCC tracking matters for dairy profitability
Industry benchmarks use 200,000 cells/mL as the quality line. Cows chronically above that threshold:
- Reduce component yields even when clinical mastitis is not obvious
- Increase treatment and discarded milk costs
- Risk bulk tank rejection if enough high-SCC milk enters the tank
- Should be flagged for culture, treatment, or culling decisions
Dairy Farm Software That Tracks Milk Checks, Not Just Tank Weights
Production records tell you what cows gave. Milk sales tell you what you got paid. Cattly milk sales logging covers cooperative pickups, direct-to-consumer sales, and anything in between.
Each sale stores quantity, price per unit, buyer name and contact, invoice number (auto-generated with date prefix), payment status, payment date, and method. Quality grade, component percentages, SCC, quality bonus, and quality deduction roll into a final amount that matches how processors actually pay — base plus premiums minus penalties.
Unpaid sales show overdue status after 30 days. Tie income into farm tax and Schedule F reporting when you classify dairy revenue for your accountant.
Milk sale fields
Dairy Production Reports and Herd Analytics
Milk recording without reporting is a diary nobody reads. Cattly dairy reports answer the questions you ask every month.
Dairy production report
Farm-level report for any date range:
- Total milk production (liters or gallons)
- Total milk record count
- Average daily production per animal
- Active lactations count
- Average yield per completed lactation
- Top 10 producers by total volume
- Monthly production trend chart data
Dairy reports dashboard
Operational dairy dashboard with period filters (month, custom range) and milk unit display from your settings.
Cross-module reports also include dairy production metrics in the main reports suite alongside animal summary, breeding stats, and weight gain — so milk is not siloed from the rest of the herd intelligence.
Run Reports FreeMilk Withdrawal Period Tracking for Treated Cows
One antibiotic milking into the bulk tank can cost more than a year of software subscriptions. Cattly health treatments calculate withdrawal end dates for milk and meat from the drug administered, dose, and route.
Vaccination schedules, mastitis treatments, and dry cow therapy all live in the health module — the same place beef operations record implants and dewormers. For dairies, the critical output is: when can this cow's milk go back in the tank?
Withdrawal CalculatorIntegrated dairy herd management
- Pasture management for dry cows and heifers on grass
- Breeding & calving linked to lactation start
- Break-even calculator for per-cow margin
- Dairy software comparison guide
From Dairy Settings to First Production Report in One Afternoon
Set dairy preferences
Milking frequency, sessions, recording mode, quality toggles, lactation and dry period defaults, reproduction intervals.
Import or tag dairy cows
Set production type to dairy. Open lactations for fresh cows or let calving events start them.
Record milk daily
Batch entry after parlor rounds or single-cow logs from mobile. Add SCC when tests arrive.
Review and act
Run production reports, log milk sales, dry off on schedule, breed back using linked reproduction data.
Why Dairies Choose Cattly Over Limited Free Tiers
Most "free dairy software" caps your herd at 10 or 20 cows. Cattly does not. That is the difference between a demo and a system you can actually run your milking string on.
Free dairy herd management — unlimited cows
Milk records, lactations, sales, reports, and settings at zero cost per head. No upgrade wall when you pass 20 animals.
One app for milk, breeding, pasture, and taxes
Dry cows on pasture, milking string in the parlor, heifers in the calf barn, milk check on Schedule F — same login, same animal IDs.
Built for real parlor workflows
Per-session or daily recording, batch entry, discard flags, and session time windows — not just a single "milk amount" field per cow.
SCC and component history per cow
The data you need for mastitis management and component pricing — stored on each record, not lost on a clipboard.
Dairy Management Software FAQ: Milk Recording, SCC & Lactation
Answers for dairy farmers evaluating free dairy herd management software and milk recording apps.
Stop Losing Records. Stop Guessing. Start Managing — Free.
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