Dairymaster and Packo Fullwood show new products

With farmers increasing scale, Jack Kennedy and Pat Walshe report from two events highlighting investment in milking technology.

Jack Kennedy

12 November 2014

Dairymaster and Packo Fullwood show new products

Over 200 farmers attended the Heffernan's Farm walk organised by Dairymaster in Kilkenny last week.

Packo Fullwood launched its new milking robot in England last week with an electric arm for cluster attachment and entry from the back or side if desired.

Over 200 farmers attended the Heffernan's Farm walk organised by Dairymaster in Kilkenny last week to see the 36 unit rapid exit parlour.

Over 200 farmers attended the Heffernan's Farm walk organised by Dairymaster in Kilkenny last week to see the 170 cows milking in a 36 unti rapid exit parlour.

Packo Fullwood launched its new milking robot in England last week with an electric arm for cluster attachment and the feed trough and front exit folds away.

Packo Fullwood launched its new milking robot in England last week with an electric arm for cluster attachment and entry and exit changes.

Packo Fullwood launched its new milking robot in England last week with an electric arm for cluster attachment.

Over 200 farmers attended a Dairymaster open day on the Heffernan family farm near Dunamaggin in south Kilkenny last week. The Heffernans (Liam, Mark and their father Billy) recently installed a state-of-the-art 36-unit rapid-exit parlour. This parlour replaced a 12-unit 2ft 2in herringbone parlour which had been upgraded from a six-unit previously. While only milking 170 cows at the moment, the Heffernans are planning to milk close to 300 cows in coming years as milk quotas are removed.

This parlour replaced a 12-unit 2ft 2in herringbone parlour which had been upgraded from a six-unit previously. While only milking 170 cows at the moment, the Heffernans are planning to milk close to 300 cows in coming years as milk quotas are removed.

The Heffernans have reduced ewe numbers gradually down through the years and grown dairy cow numbers. Milk quota was purchased through the priority access scheme run by the Department of Agriculture.

Michael Freaney from Teagasc explained that the Heffernan farm system is all about converting grass to milk.

He said: “Consistently in our monitor programme, the Heffernans have grown upwards of 14t of grass dry matter per year. I reckon they are on target to grow 16.5t of dry matter this year.

“At one stage, there were 400 ewes on this farm, but they are gradually on the way out as cow numbers increase. The Heffernans have over 250 acres of the best land in one block, managed to a very high standard with excellent farm roadways and fencing.

“The Heffernans have a very square, black and white Friesian cow, again typical of the region where a cattle enterprise has been running alongside the dairy enterprise.

The Heffernan herd EBI is €151 (milk €16/fertility €115). Six week in-calf rate is 84% and calving interval is 365 days. AI bulls used include HEK, TYB, DBW, WTC, RNC, and HFT.

At the moment, the Heffernans have 93 maiden heifers and they have an EBI of €159 and 86 heifer calves with an EBI of €191. Milk yield in 2014 is 5,192 at 3.55% protein and 4.02% fat (435kg MS) with SCC of 145,000.

This is down a good bit from 2013 milk yield. In 2013, milk yield was 6,425kg at 3.57% protein and 4.02% fat (503kg MS/cow), with an SCC of 153,000.

According to Michael Freaney, the yield reduction is due to a number of factors:

The Heffernans were once-a-day milking in the spring and subsequently peak milk per cow was reduced.

There are 90 first and second calvers off the 170 cows milking.

Meal fed per cow is down from about 900kg to 500kg per cow this year due to the better grass growing year.

Conor Beirne from Dairymaster described the Dairymaster technology at the event. He said: “During milking, the cow is positioned for optimum cluster attachment and alignment. Therefore, cows are more relaxed and content during milking. Also, each cow has her own clearly defined space. This results in much quicker and easier loading.

“Once milked, the bailing raises to facilitate an unobstructed exit. A unique feature of this setup is that feeding can be installed. In this situation, feed troughs move forward and upwards as cows are released, making it very space-efficient.”

Given the size of the parlour, there always needs to be two milkers in the parlour. The Heffernans have cluster removers and cluster cleanse installed.

I asked the milker how long milking was taking and he said: “We can milk 150 cows in 40 minutes no problem.” This equates to about 240 to 250 cows per hour. On the day of the farm walk, milking was much slower as cows were slow to enter and exit with people standing around.

The total cost of this investment is very significant (upwards of €300,000 net) and most new entrants are not going to be able to consider such an investment, but this family did a lot of the construction work themselves and maximized grant aid.

The Heffernans feel the herringbone gives more control and contact with cows compared to the rotary, and hence decided for the 36-unit herringbone. Like all big parlours, there is a significant amount of concrete area to be washed down after each milking and the rapid exit area increases this even further.