Farming in the ‘sunny southeast’ is Robert Jacob, a new entrant to dairy farming this year, who is milking 75 cows through a brand new 14-unit milking parlour.
Based in Bunclody, Co. Wexford, Robert – before going down the route of dairy – worked full-time off-farm, while running a sizeable beef operation on his 120ac farm.
However, having grown extremely frustrated with the returns from his beef finishing system, as well as struggling to fit in any real substantial family time, Robert decided it was time for change.
Speaking to Agriland during the week about his move to dairy, and the reasons behind it, Robert said: “I was working full-time off-farm, before going milking cows and then finishing cattle as well.
“My day used to start at half five, which would see me check/feed the cattle and then head to work.
“That evening, after work, I would come home, get something to eat and go out to the yard again until 8:00-9:00p.m, and carry out what jobs needed to be done around the farm.
“It was non-stop and it meant I was barely seeing my wife and family and then to make matters worse, my off-farm job was keeping the farm going because it was making a loss.
“I tried everything: sucklers, finishing heifers, bullocks and even cull cows, and I was still coming up short – loosing money, especially over the last two years.
“I said to myself, I have a good farm of land and I want to make the most of it, and I also wanted to see it become profitable so that if any of my kids wanted to, it would be there for them in years to come.
“So, after a lot of consideration and talking to people, I decided to go down the route of dairy farming.”
Making the jump and deciding on a herringbone parlour
Robert’s interest in going down the dairy route really gained momentum in 2019, and it was a trip to the National Ploughing Championships that same year that made up his mind on who, and how he would go about milking his cows.
It was a visit to the DeLaval stand that made up Robert’s mind, as well as going with a herringbone parlour, as he had given thought to going down the robotic-milking route.
Robert added: “I was looking around and wasn’t sure if I’d go with a conventional herringbone parlour or give robots a go.
“I completed a dairy start-up course in Moorepark and met farmers in a similar position [new entrants] there, who were also wondering what direction to go, and the advice I got from them really helped to make up my mind in what direction I would go.
“A trip to the National Ploughing Championships really made up my mind about what brand of parlour I was going to go with and from talking to Graham Hill of DeLaval, we came to a decision and went from there.”
The parlour
In the end, Robert installed a 14-unit DeLaval MidiLine milking parlour which was sourced and installed by Enniscorthy Farm Systems, who are dealers of DeLaval. There was also room left in the parlour to add two more units in the future.
Because of the cost involved when starting from scratch, Robert had to make calls on what he could, and could not afford at his disposal in the parlour, having come from beef where he “wasn’t making much money”.
November 2019, was when Robert started putting pen to paper, and looked at where this new parlour could be installed.
Originally, the plan was to put it into an existing shed on the farm; however, the way it was fitting into the existing shed – it meant a lot of space was going to be wasted.
So, Robert decided to keep the old shed for calving purposes and build a new shed, where the parlour lies today. A handling area is also incorporated into the new build, although it’s a work in progress.
The main features of the new parlour are: automatic cluster removers (ACRs), milk yield indicators and samplers, lightweight clusters (2.1kg), low level washline, 100L side-entry receiver, 3 inch milkline, 2X2 pulsation and a batch feeding system.
An autowash system and dumpline haven’t been installed yet, but Robert hopes, down the line, to add them onto the parlour.
Robert said he didn’t feel it was necessary putting in feed-to-yield feeders, stating that because he runs a spring-calving, predominately grass-based system, that grass is the main feed and, just for the bad weather this year cows are on more meal than he would have hoped – but going forward he hopes that won’t be the case.
Features of the parlour
One element of the parlour design Robert is very happy with and makes life easier in the pit, is the way the cows face him dead straight in the parlour.
He went with 2X3 centres rather than 2X6, which was what he had originally decided on. He said it makes life very easy for the person milking, instead of the cows being at angle to him in the pit.
Robert also opted to put in headlocking barriers along the length of the feeders in the parlour – for the main reason of having more control over his cows.
As many of them are first-time calvers, and one or two are still a bit giddy in the parlour, by having the headlocking barriers Robert said it has helped to train them in the parlour, and just gives him more control over them during milking.
A drainage pipe on both sides of the parlour was also incorporated (pictured below) to take away any faeces and parlour washings away to the tank in the collecting yard.
One other element of the design, which is less commonly seen in parlours, is that the milk reciever is at the back of the parlour, rather than at the front.
Basically, the reason for this is because of the fall of the site is going away from the dairy. So, instead of having one metal pipe taking the milk to the bulk tank, an extra pipe had to be installed with milk now going to the back of the parlour, and back up around to the front of the building where the bulk tank is.
The last of the milk in the pipeline is helped on its way to the bulk tank with clear air, which means no milk is lost.
Robert also bought a second-hand bulk tank which is a whopping 37 years old. He said that it’s in perfect working condition and again, helped to save a few pound rather than buying from new.
Electrical savings
The electrical costs associated with running a milking parlour are high, so Robert put the question to Graham Hill of how he could reduce his bill.
Speaking about how he does this and the potential cost savings, Graham Hill of Enniscorthy Farm Systems, who was on the farm on the day of Agriland’s visit, said: “There is a variable speed drive in the vaccuum pump – so it’s a vacuum on demand system.
“So when Robert is milking, it is only using about 25 hertz [hz], which is saving Robert 50% on his electrical bill.
“If Robert was milking here without the variable speed drive with a vacuum pump with a single phase motor, it would be running full tilt at 50hz, whereas with the drive you are saving power.
“When the clusters are hanging up and not in use it’s running at 15hz, and when the clusters are on the cows it’s running at 25hz.
“With single phase, it’s running at 50hz the whole time, even when clusters are just hanging up not being used.
“As well as the energy savings which are roughly around 50-60%, it’s all very quiet in the parlour at milking time because of the system Robert has.”
Cost
Coming from a struggling beef system, Robert had to try and stick to a budget and hold back on installing extras in the parlour in order to keep costs down.
The fact he was able to avail of the Target Agricultural Modernistaion Scheme (TAMS II) helped bring the cost down.
The overall cost of the new build came to €140,000 excluding VAT.
Michael Nolan of Michael Nolan Construction erected the shed and carried out all the concrete work around the parlour, drafting area and collecting yard, which can hold 120 cows and also the tanks. Robert himself did all the digger work.
Looking back on his decision to go down the dairy route and how he is finding the change, Robert added: “To be honest, I’m very happy I made the change.
“It just wasn’t sustainable what I was at beforehand. From going to barely seeing my wife and kids except for on a Sunday, to having them nearly everyday, down giving me a hand milking is just great.
“It was a tough spring with calving I won’t lie, and because I had mainly heifers, it was a struggle at times keeping everything going, and I had to get my brother in to help me out at one stage – but in the end it worked out fine.
“Along with the family time, the first milk cheque I got was more than what I made at beef in my last year at it, so that will tell you how much of a struggle it was financially. There was no future for my kids here staying with beef so something had to change.
“Hopefully now, over the next few years, I will be able to gradually build up cow numbers to the 100–120 mark and maybe add on a few bits to the parlour and look towards building a cubicle shed,” Robert concluded by saying.
