We are starting a new project at home this week, with a big upgrade to milking facilities under way. We are doubling up the existing parlour instead of pushing on with the rotary project. We also have some building work to do in the yard through the second half of the year.

We would be halfway through the rotary build, without the COVID-19 restrictions but with the restrictions in place, we would have missed the deadline for calving next spring and with extra cows due in, the system would have been under too much pressure.

We have instead decided to go for the double-up option. This option means we retain all of the existing infrastructure around the milking parlour and reduce the overall investment by over 70%. Our existing building and collecting yard is in excellent condition, with a good deep, wide pit with room for 21 units each side, which lends itself to the double-up setup. The rotary would have a higher throughput with less labour, but the cost is very high in comparison.

We may go back and look at the rotary again over the next 10 years but for the moment we are happy with this option. If we were starting from scratch, we would definitely go with the rotary, but it’s hard to turn our back on the existing building, collecting yard, electric system, water system, crush, slatted tanks and feed bins. The rotary was planned to go on to a new greenfield site.

We will use some of the funding earmarked for the rotary to tidy up the farmyard instead. We will extend silage pits and calf sheds a couple of years ahead of schedule. We will also add some extra cubicles and feed passages to make everything more comfortable for the winter.

This project will keep us busy for the next few months but hopefully it will be worth it. We should be finished investing in the farm for a few years after this and cow numbers should stabilise and allow us to consolidate the farm business.

Audit

We had a remote Bord Bia audit on the farm last week. We passed the test but I can’t help thinking the process could be streamlined a bit more. If we had a central hub on the computer that feed, fertiliser, vet products and vet treatments could be fed into electronically as they are bought and administered it would make life a lot simpler for all of us.

A link to the health and safety statement, animal health plan and even farm maps could all be built in and kept on one platform. Instead of this we are running from ICBF to Agfood to Glanbia Connect to Pasture Base to emails from suppliers to gather data.

The technology is out there to make all of this a lot simpler but we seem to have a lot of platforms pulling us in different directions with multiple logins, instead of pulling all of this data onto one site and making it simpler for the end user and the person that pays for it all.

A big lesson from COVID-19 is that we need to become much better at gathering and accessing data and we need to improve our electronic communication skills. We have already moved our Zoom and Skype skills on 10 years in a few months. There are huge possibilities for farming to progress in this area and for farming organisations to come together and invest smarter in technology.

In other news, we have taken a few days off this week for a staycation before we get too busy with the parlour build. With foreign holidays out of the question for the next year or so, we are visiting Roscommon and the north west for a few days. It’s an interesting change of scenery but the kids are really enjoying it.

We even managed to catch a couple of pike on Lough Key. A lot of farms have been busier than ever this spring so don’t forget to take a few days break over the next few months.