Overlooking the sea near Ballyheigue in Co Kerry, the Cronin farm enjoys some of the best scenery in Ireland. Myles Cronin is the full-time farmer, helped by his brother Paudie, who is also a builder.
Cow numbers have increased over the last few years, leaving their old eight-unit parlour struggling to cope and milking taking too long at 18 rows. With 150 cows being milked this year, Myles decided it was time to invest in milking and housing.
Plans were drawn up in 2017 to build a new 20-unit parlour and a cubicle shed for 160 cows and convert existing cubicle sheds to calving and calf-rearing sheds. Paudie designed and erected the sheds. The cows were housed in the new shed last winter and the first cows were milked in the parlour a few months ago.
The scale of the job is immense – the Cronins have effectively got a whole new yard. The shed is huge, but blends in well with the landscape. All the cubicles are covered with a feed passage up the middle. The parlour, dairy and collecting yard are all under the one roof.
The cows walk through a footbath and drafting gate after leaving the parlour.
The milking machine was purchased from near neighbours, Dairymaster. Paudie actually worked for Dairymaster as a fabricator when he first started out. The parlour is a top-spec 20-unit swingover. All of the usual extras are included such as automatic cluster removers (ACRs), swingover arms, a cluster flush, dump-line, sequential bailing, low-line wash, up and over backing gate, automatic feeders, automatic drafting gate and automatic wash unit. A new 12,750l bulk tank and heat recovery unit was also installed.
The quality of the work and the standard of the finish is exceptionally high. The dairy is tiled. Myles believes it will be easier to keep the tiles clean and that they will last longer than paint and will be harder wearing than other alternatives. The dairy is clean and spacious and not unlike a laboratory. Even the towel rack is heated, so nothing is left to chance.
Beyond the dairy is the plant room with the milking machine motors and hot-water storage tank and ancillary devices such as pumps and motors. Everything is laid out neat and tidy with pipes running level, both horizontally and vertically. Above the plant room, a Stira staircase leads to the loft where the heat exchange unit and compressors for the Dairymaster bulk tank are located. The heat exchange unit uses the heat generated from the cooling of the milk to heat the water for washing the milking machine.
The 20-unit Dairymaster milking parlour on the Cronin farm has ACRs, dumpline, sequential bailing and cluster flush.
Energy costs
Dairymaster’s John Harty says that the combination of Dairymaster bulk tank and heat recovery unit reduces energy costs for cooling milk and heating water by up to 65% compared with other systems.
A door from the plant room leads to the back of the milking parlour. The collecting yard has a solid floor with a slatted tank at the back.
The up and over backing gate will be fitted with a scraper to scrape the slurry back after the cows. Myles did not want a tracked scraper because the cows come in from the back.
After leaving the parlour, the cows turn left and down through a DeLaval automatic footbath. This sprays water on the hoof when the cows pass. After walking through this, they enter the Dairymaster drafting gate which can send them three ways; back to the shed, down the middle with the rest of the cows or to a holding pen.
Myles doesn’t know himself since the new job was completed. Milking and washing up only takes 1.75 hours and quality of life has improved to no end. Of course, it has come at a cost. Investments of this scale are expensive.
Cost
The total cost for all of the equipment was around €250,000 before VAT and before TAMSII grant was applied. If we assume that the backing gate cost in the region of €15,000, the drafting gate cost €12,000 and the bulk tank cost €25,000, then the cost for the milking plant and other equipment was €198,000, which works out at about €10,000 per unit. For this, Myles got a top of the range parlour.
Overlooking the sea near Ballyheigue in Co Kerry, the Cronin farm enjoys some of the best scenery in Ireland. Myles Cronin is the full-time farmer, helped by his brother Paudie, who is also a builder.
Cow numbers have increased over the last few years, leaving their old eight-unit parlour struggling to cope and milking taking too long at 18 rows. With 150 cows being milked this year, Myles decided it was time to invest in milking and housing.
Plans were drawn up in 2017 to build a new 20-unit parlour and a cubicle shed for 160 cows and convert existing cubicle sheds to calving and calf-rearing sheds. Paudie designed and erected the sheds. The cows were housed in the new shed last winter and the first cows were milked in the parlour a few months ago.
The scale of the job is immense – the Cronins have effectively got a whole new yard. The shed is huge, but blends in well with the landscape. All the cubicles are covered with a feed passage up the middle. The parlour, dairy and collecting yard are all under the one roof.
The cows walk through a footbath and drafting gate after leaving the parlour.
The milking machine was purchased from near neighbours, Dairymaster. Paudie actually worked for Dairymaster as a fabricator when he first started out. The parlour is a top-spec 20-unit swingover. All of the usual extras are included such as automatic cluster removers (ACRs), swingover arms, a cluster flush, dump-line, sequential bailing, low-line wash, up and over backing gate, automatic feeders, automatic drafting gate and automatic wash unit. A new 12,750l bulk tank and heat recovery unit was also installed.
The quality of the work and the standard of the finish is exceptionally high. The dairy is tiled. Myles believes it will be easier to keep the tiles clean and that they will last longer than paint and will be harder wearing than other alternatives. The dairy is clean and spacious and not unlike a laboratory. Even the towel rack is heated, so nothing is left to chance.
Beyond the dairy is the plant room with the milking machine motors and hot-water storage tank and ancillary devices such as pumps and motors. Everything is laid out neat and tidy with pipes running level, both horizontally and vertically. Above the plant room, a Stira staircase leads to the loft where the heat exchange unit and compressors for the Dairymaster bulk tank are located. The heat exchange unit uses the heat generated from the cooling of the milk to heat the water for washing the milking machine.
The 20-unit Dairymaster milking parlour on the Cronin farm has ACRs, dumpline, sequential bailing and cluster flush.
Energy costs
Dairymaster’s John Harty says that the combination of Dairymaster bulk tank and heat recovery unit reduces energy costs for cooling milk and heating water by up to 65% compared with other systems.
A door from the plant room leads to the back of the milking parlour. The collecting yard has a solid floor with a slatted tank at the back.
The up and over backing gate will be fitted with a scraper to scrape the slurry back after the cows. Myles did not want a tracked scraper because the cows come in from the back.
After leaving the parlour, the cows turn left and down through a DeLaval automatic footbath. This sprays water on the hoof when the cows pass. After walking through this, they enter the Dairymaster drafting gate which can send them three ways; back to the shed, down the middle with the rest of the cows or to a holding pen.
Myles doesn’t know himself since the new job was completed. Milking and washing up only takes 1.75 hours and quality of life has improved to no end. Of course, it has come at a cost. Investments of this scale are expensive.
Cost
The total cost for all of the equipment was around €250,000 before VAT and before TAMSII grant was applied. If we assume that the backing gate cost in the region of €15,000, the drafting gate cost €12,000 and the bulk tank cost €25,000, then the cost for the milking plant and other equipment was €198,000, which works out at about €10,000 per unit. For this, Myles got a top of the range parlour.
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