Ned Kelly is farming alongside his Dad, wife and three young kids on the shores of Lough Derg. His family have been farming in Co. Tipperary for decades.
The farm was bought in 1973 by Ned’s father William who, once farming for a number of years, made the decision to put up a proper milking parlour.
It was decided to put in a six-unit Pearson Swing Over milking machine.
After 1996, some lease land became available which allowed an increase in cow numbers and this led the herd to expand and in about 2010, they were at 62/63 cows.
In 2010 Ned was just taking over the farm and the decision was to upgrade the milking parlour once more this time to a 12-unit parlour, again installing a Pearson Parlour, a swing over with cluster removers.
But since this machine was installed more than 10 years ago land became available and they increased up to their current figure of 140 cows.
“Milking this number of cows was just taking too long in the 12 unit, you were looking at the guts of two hours morning and evening, which is four hours a day in the pit and that left very little time for other activities and even from a family point of view,” Ned said.
For these reasons the decision was then made to upgrade the machine, but this time to a double up machine, as there will be very little building work to be done to allow the machine expansion.
Ned has now installed a 12-unit Pearson Dual Flo double up parlour, complete with Smart Technology cluster removers, an autowasher and Dual Flo individual stainless steel cabinets.
“It is probably one of the best decisions we have ever made,” Ned said, and he has now cut milking time to roughly about an hour in the morning and evening.
Re-planning the shed at Lough Derg
Ned was advised to re-plan the parlour shed back in 2010 to get the falls and slopes right in the milking shed. The plan was done to Pearson’s specification and this meant the job was done correctly.
Pearson also recommended to Ned to go with their “Express Fit, One Day Switch” service with the new 12-unit Pearson Dual Flo double up.
“I milked one morning at 5.30a.m, the cows were finished at 7.30a.m and at 7.45a.m the angle grinders started. The old parlour and steelwork was cut out, the lorry arrived with the new machine which was built in the factory in Athy,” Ned explained.
“The new machine was lifted off the lorry, they wheeled out the old parlour and wheeled back in the new parlour.
“It was welded and fitted back into place and it was actually unbelievable that by 8:00p.m that night, the new 12-unit double up parlour was operational and an hour later the cows were milked.”
He went from milking the same number of cows in two hours that morning to one hour that evening.
Ned would say that the 12-unit Pearson double up parlour is absolutely ideal for a one man operation.
The advice that Ned got from Pearson Milking Technology down through the decades has been well-received.
“All in all, it has been a brilliant experience dealing with Pearsons. They are Irish, a family run business and they really have your best interests at heart,” Ned said.
To find out more about Pearson Milking Technology and what they can advise on your farm, click here.
