David Coulter, Ahorey milk producer has recently installed an 80 unit Swiftflo Revolver Rotary parlour, from Dairymaster. David milks between 550 to 600 cows and at any one time they have 150/200 dry cows in the Ballybreagh Farm herd in Portadown. The herd is currently averaging 7,000 litres at 3.9 butterfat and 3.2 protein. The building that houses the rotary is a new building and was constructed by Willie Lavery and the Coulter family. The parlour has been fully commissioned and they are milking in it with approx 6 weeks. David comments that they have invested in the new milking plant, shed, collecting yard, dairy, cooling plant and outdoor milk storage silo. The investment to date has been approx £2 million however they have plans to put up new cubicles houses to meet the existing needs of the herd.
David's has a mixture of cows including Friesian, Ayrshire's and Jersey's in the herd which is organic, and they are farming between 800 – 900 acres of land. The Farming business was established by David and his wife Wendy who started milking 12 years ago. David bought the farm 18 years ago and they started with 27 Acres of land. His old parlour was a 24/48 Swingover Parlour and it used to take up to 4 hours morning and evening to milk the herd before installing the new parlour. The reason for installing such a large plant was that David was finding that labour was increasingly hard to get and was costing them between £10 - £15 an hour. With the new plant the milk the 600 cows in just over an hour and David commented that the parlour is well on the way to having paid for itself in the labour savings alone. He also commented that he has found it much easier to get labour with the new parlour.
David farms on Ballybreagh farm with his two sons Jason and Kyle and he also has three Romanian staff to manage the farming operation. The herd is milked twice a day at 5.30am and at 5.30pm. David decided to go with a Dairymaster parlour again as he was very happy with the service he was getting both from Dairymaster and from his local distributor Sean Reid of Cookstown Dairy Services and he couldn't fault the equipment. On the 80 unit rotary David installed Automatic Cluster Remover's which gently remove the clusters automatically from the cow and she exits the parlour. Cluster Positioning Arms which are designed to optimally position the cluster. These are ergonomically positioned for easy handling by the operator. The arm ensures that the cluster is correctly positioned on the cow. Pull associated with carrying milk tubes to one side is eliminated and this results in better milkout. When the ACR is activated, the arm retracts and again neatly stores the cluster, which allows unhindered exit from the platform.
Feeding system and flexi Augur System - Dairymaster FeedRite in parlour feeders are a very precise and convenient way to feed cows in the parlour. In parlour feeding offers tremendous advantages to the dairy farmer as it has been proven to increase cow flow, decrease milking time and cater for the individual nutrition requirements of cows. They are easy to install and operate and are virtually maintenance free. One of the most interesting features of the Dairymaster automated feed system is that appetizer feeding may be utilized. As each cow enters the parlour a small amount of feed is dispensed into her stall which encourages fast loading. When the unit is being attached the remainder of her allocated feed is dispensed, this results in better cow temperament as the cow is much more content when the cluster is attached. Scientific trials have also shown higher levels of oxytocin are present when cows are fed during milking. David is feeding his herd 1 tonne of meal per cow which is supplied by ABN meal as well as grass and red clover, carrots, turnips and potatoes.
Variable Speed milk pump controller - The Variflo Plus ensures optimum cooling and gentle milk transport as it responds to the level of milk in the receiver and controls the water flow through the cooling system. Milk flow into the receiver varies both throughout the year and during milking. Variable speed milk pumping is used when optimum cooling and gentle milk transport is required. The plate cooler is utilized 3 to 4 times more when compared to typical milk pump controls. The height of milk in the receiver is measured and the output of the milk pump is matched to the cumulative quantity of milk in the receiver jar. This system ensures the pump speed increases as the milk level increases. When the milk level is low, the pump speed is reduced. The cooling water supply can be switched off by a solenoid when the milk pump is inactive. The result is a controlled milk flow through plate coolers and gentler milk handling with less water usage.
5 way robotic drafting - Dairymaster Integrated AutoDrafting is a cow sorting system which is unrivalled in terms of performance and build quality. It is available in a choice of 2-way and 3-way integrated AutoDrafting systems which may be combined when more segregation options are required. The route for individual cows can be selected from the parlour pit, pre-programmed before milking on the parlour PC or directly from your mobile cell phone using Farm Messenger. Cows can be pre-programmed to draft for any number of reasons. For example, if a number of cows need to be segregated for a veterinarian visit then the operator can program the computer to draft the identified cows to a holding pen or crush for the visit. Drafting information may be modified by keying in CowID, Group or a previous veterinary history, e.g. cows that were artificially inseminated on a certain date range. David comments "the drafting makes life so much easier on the stock and on ourselves and is a great labour saver – there is no stress of any kind on the animals with this system". The Dairymaster Integrated AutoDrafting is an ideal cow segregation system for large herds as cows can be easily sorted in a number of directions. The AutoDrafting unit is of robust construction and hot-dipped galvanised. All gates on the drafting unit are hinged on low friction bearings. Saloon entry gates on the drafting unit provide accurate separation of animals. Auto teat spraying is also available.
Automatic Plant Washer - The Dairymaster AutoWasher ensures that consistent plant cleaning can be achieved day after day. It is designed for all types of milking installation. It is neatly constructed in a stainless steel enclosure into which both valves and controls are fully integrated. This is normally mounted above an optional stainless steel wash trough. The AutoWasher takes over the work of washing the milking plant, which can typically reduce labour by up to an hour per day. When an automatic washer is installed it functions as a complete control console for the milking machine. It has the ability to start and stop the complete milking plant as required. The pre-programmed amounts of chemicals are accurately metered and the correct quantity of water is added. Chemicals are not handled at every wash so they can be stored safely away. The AutoWasher control panel is powered with extra low voltage as electrical safety is paramount in wet environments. The wash solution temperature is continuously monitored. Wash water will be circulated until the milking plant reaches the correct operating temperature for cleaning the plant. It will not add the chemicals to the wash until the system detects the correct temperature have been reached. Circulation then commences for a predetermined duration. The AutoWasher fully integrates and controls the parlour washing cycle. It communicates with equipment in the parlour including milk meters and ACR's to ensure the best cleaning sequence. An optional water recovery unit may be fitted which allows recycling some wash water for other operations on the farm. The AutoWasher allows for different wash cycles to be<
