Overview
ISO 20966:2007 - "Automatic milking installations - Requirements and testing" defines construction, safety, hygiene, performance and testing requirements for automatic milking installations (AMI). It supplements ISO 5707 and ISO 6690 by addressing AMI-specific aspects such as teat cleaning, milk diversion, milk cooling and data monitoring. The standard focuses on the milking equipment and systems; it does not specify building design requirements.
Key topics and technical requirements
The standard sets minimum performance and safety expectations across AMI functions. Major technical topics include:
- Safety and hygiene
- Normative hygiene requirements (referencing ISO 14159) and human/animal safety provisions (Annex A).
- Functional requirements
- Teat and udder cleaning procedures and verification (see Annex B example method).
- Foremilking and separation of foremilk with verification and documentation.
- Detection of accidental teatcup detachment and corrective actions.
- Milk yield measurement for each milking; accuracy must be stated in the user manual.
- Detection of abnormal milk (blood, changes in homogeneity) and milk diversion procedures (Annex C gives example methods).
- Limits on machine-on time and measures for teatcup removal.
- Milk transport, cooling and storage
- Requirements for diverting abnormal or withheld milk before it reaches the bulk milk tank.
- Bulk milk tank interface and cooling capacity provisions; refrigerated tanks should comply where appropriate with EN 13732.
- Cleaning and disinfection
- Automatic cleaning/rinsing of milk-contact surfaces between milkings and after contact with abnormal milk.
- Management, monitoring and documentation
- Alarm and notification rules (immediate for safety risks; deferred for non-safety errors).
- Time-stamped data logging requirements (milking data, cleaning events, alarms, samples) and access for a specified retention period.
- Animal monitoring records (time since last milking, overdue animals, diverted milk, etc.).
Practical applications and users
ISO 20966:2007 is used by:
- AMI manufacturers and system integrators - for product design, performance testing and compliance claims.
- Farm operators and dairy managers - to set up standard operating procedures, cleaning regimes and alarm/monitoring configurations that protect milk quality and animal welfare.
- Inspectors, certifiers and test laboratories - for acceptance testing, safety assessments and performance verification.
- Regulators and procurement teams - to reference technical requirements when evaluating equipment for on-farm use.
Practical benefits include improved milk hygiene, traceability of milking events, reduced risk of contamination, and documented performance for quality assurance.
Related standards
Key referenced standards include: ISO 5707, ISO 6690, ISO 14159, ISO 3918, EN 13732, IEC 60204-1, and data-transfer standards such as ISO 11787 / ISO 11788 (noting export/data format guidance). These provide complementary requirements for milking machines, hygiene, vocabulary and electrical safety.