S.M.MCKEE Ltd.
ROWREAGH FARM KIRCUBBIN 60 POINT ROTARY
Dairy farming has been in the
Steele family for
four
generations now. Today, ably
assisted by his mother, father and brother Samuel,
Thomas Steele now has ten years
under his belt at the helm of this successful
dairy venture, at Rowreagh Farm
outside Newtownards.
The 600 acre farm is located on
Northern Ireland’s eastern
seaboard, in the fertile landscape
that is County Down’s Ards Peninsula. The
Steele’s already have expansion
plans afoot to increase footfall to 500 from
their current 375 strong herd. The
herd is TMR fed with feed to yield in the
parlour with
concentrates.
Thomas also includes home grown
forage on site as a way to
manage the farm’s feed
outgoings.
“The Ards has quite a lot of cows
located in it. We also
grow around 80 acres of cereals for
feeding to the herd and the straw is also a
valuable asset for bedding as arable
farms are very scarce in the area. To feed
the herd during the winter months
about 90 areas of forage maize is grown in
the open along with 1st cut silage.
These two forages make up the basis for our
milking herd.”
With an eye on future growth
Thomas and Samuel decided to
look at installing a new parlour.
After a lengthy search, the family decided on
Fullwood 60-point rotary. A new
build on a greenfield site allowed more flexibility
in the design phase and the
installation began at the beginning of June 2009
and was completed by December
2009.
“We really needed a change from
our old facilities as they
had been on the go for the past 30
years. Also the old parlour was put in when
our herd stood at 80 cows. With a
375 head count, it was starting to affect the
performance with animals spending
too long waiting to be milked.”
“It’s a life time commitment and
not something to be taken
light-heartedly. We looked at
various options for approximately one year,
travelling extensively within
Northern Ireland and further afield to Southern
Ireland, England, Germany and South
Africa in our quest to research different
installations.”
“After looking at different
companies and parlours on the
market Fullwood was the only one
that could meet our needs. Technology has
changed over the years and Fullwood
has embraced this which will help with herd
management, we opted for the Afifarm
Herd management program provided by
Fullwood, which gives a wide range
of reports to high light cows with suspected
ketosis, Activity, Conductivity and
general health problems assisted by weight
recording on every milking, also the
Pedometer Plus records activity, Rest
periods, restlessness & erratic
behaviour. Also the local dealer is
fantastic, with a wealth of
knowledge and experience.”
Thomas believes the biggest
saving of all afforded by the
new parlour is one of the most
precious commodities we can never have enough of
– time!
“The greatest saving would have
to be time. It used to take
us 4.5 hrs to milk in our old
parlour twice a day, with a total of 9hrs just
milking! Since we started milking in
the new parlour from we go in to start
till we leave again is 2hrs, so just
4 hrs milking every day.”
“The actual milking process only
takes about 1hour and 30
minutes. This is a lot easier on
both the cows and operators. The cooling
system for the milk also is saving
us money. Before it used to be a couple of
hours after milking before our milk
was cooled but now it is cooled even before
the plant has finished its wash
cycle. The variable speed vacuum pump is also
saving energy by only supplying
vacuum on demand.”
Indeed the new system means
reduced labour. While mum looks
after the paperwork side of things,
Thomas, his father and his brother,
alongside two full time workers
manage the parlour.
“One operative is foaming and
wiping the cows, one puts the
clusters on and one to check the
cows and look after spraying when leaving the
parlour.”
“Absolutely first class.” This is
how Thomas rates
Fullwood’s team on the ground, local
dealer SM McKee Ltd.
“They have a brilliant track
record for installations and
service and this was one of the
major deciding factors in going with Fullwood.
Problems can arise but it’s nice to
know that help is only a phone call away
24/7.”
“Regarding the installation I
have nothing but praise for
the McKee team. We like a nice neat
tidy job but their work was way better than
we’d have wanted it done. Things
were done the awkward way just to make sure
thing worked the way they should.
Nothing was a bother to them even helping
other tradesmen on site! The whole
job is a credit to the team and the first
night milking went with no hitches
which says lot about the care they put into
getting the installation
right.”
When asked about the future of
farming and his advice to
others in the same dilemma, Thomas
said:
“I believe dairy farming over the
next few years will be
very uncertain. It seems to take
spells of highs and lows. The future of the
dairy industry needs more young
blood with determination and passion for the
job. I feel it needs to be
emphasized more as a career to the younger
generation.”
Thomas believes as margins get
tighter the only way to
survive is to be as efficient as
possible. Fullwood parlours affords farmers
time to become more dairy-focused,
treating cows as individuals and giving them
the attention they
deserve.
“I would have no hesitation in
recommending Fullwood as an
excellent company to work with. From
the design team to the technical team in
the factory, the salesman and
installation team have all been a pleasure to
work with. They are always looking
to improve ideas and I think this is the key
to a successful company nowadays.
They take care of their customers and value
their opinions and that means a lot
at farm level. With good technical people,
sales people and installation team
Fullwood is hard to beat.”
Picture: Turnkey parlour solution
for the Steele family
farm:
(L-R) Samuel, William and Thomas
Steele in their new parour
Robots allow for a flexible lifestyle
Farmer Roger Graham
Farm location Dromore Co. Down
Herd Holstein and Fleckvieh
Milking system Merlin M4
Date of installation January 2014
Roger Graham’s farm near Dromore, County Down consists of 45 milking cows, a flock of free range hens and a small number of beef cattle. Traditionally a beef farmer, he has recently installed a Fullwood Merlin robotic milking unit which automatically milks his herd of Holstein and Fleckvieh cows.
The Fullwood Merlin robot was installed by SM McKee Ltd. of Moneyreagh, County Down who also provides a full after-sales care and support service for robotic and conventional parlours. SM McKee have established a long standing reputation for dairy engineering in Northern Ireland serving dairy farmers for over 50 years.
Roger chose to install a milking robot on his farm after visiting a number of similar sized units. “I was struck by the calmness of the cows on those farms and was also impressed by the amount of milk the cows were giving,” Roger explains. “My best cows are milking as many as six times a day with the herd as a whole averaging of 3.4 milkings in 24 hours when housed and 2.8 milkings when at grass. We’re gradually buying more cattle with the aim of reaching 60 cows later this year.”
The Fullwood Merlin was installed in January 2014, and after a short settling in period, is performing as Roger expected. “I am very pleased with its ability to milk and manage the cows with minimal input from myself,” he says. “The robot gives me the freedom to continue to work off farm whilst still being able to keep informed of everything that is happening on the farm via the phone and internet.”
“The robot is easy to use and has proved to be totally reliable. It has performed brilliantly which makes the whole system very simple and efficient to manage.”
The photograph shows Roger with his daughter, Lauren, who works with her Dad on the farm.