In 2020, Colm O’Reilly from Shercock, Co. Cavan, made the switch from beef to dairy farming – should we say reverted back – as the farm used to milk cows with a bucket plant in the 80s and 90s.
This time around however, Colm decided to do things a bit more modern; when the decision to switch to dairying was made, the robotic milking route was the most appealing.
In January 2020, a Fullwood M²erlin was installed by local Fullwood agent Frank McDermott Milking Machines.
Like many beef farmers making the switch to dairying, Colm’s story is all too familiar. While the beef market was going downhill Colm, who also works off farm collecting milk from dairy farms, meeting different dairy farmers and new entrants getting into dairying, saw they all seemed to be getting on well enough.
Start-up process of robotic milking
“I bought some heifers and cows – mainly Holsteins and a couple of Fleckvieh’s,” Colm said, describing the beginning of his journey.
“We started with a herd of 70% heifers which might sound like very hard work, but the heifers went through the M²erlin robot perfectly, whereas the older cows took a bit more work, maybe a week to 10 days.
“At the start they would be waiting for me to come to get them for milking before they’d go to be milked in the M²erlin robot themselves, once they had the hang of it, away they went.”
“If you give them a bit of time to get used of it also helps,” Colm continued.
“I have an isolation pen beside the robot so now if I buy in heifers or cows, I put them in the pin for a few hours and they see the cows going in and out being milked in the M²erlin robot so when I let them out, they generally follow the others without too much difficulty.”
Colm has a lead-in race going into the M²erlin robot to guide the cows/heifers. This is, according to Colm, particularly handy during the first few day when training which is a big help.
“The option on the M²erlin of having side or rear entry gates into the robot gives more flexibility when locating the robot, and also the side and front exit gates that can be used to draft a cow directly from the robot, means I don’t need any external drafting gates to draft cows for artificial insemination (AI) etc.,” he said.
“The robot is airy and open so cows can see where they are going after being milked and can also see other cows around them – this definitely relaxes them while being milked.”
“Also, it’s a good job the way you can slow the meal dropping down to the manger to the cow while she is being milked. If you have a nervous cow, once she’s getting a dribble of meal the whole way through, that relaxes her and it settles her,” Colm added.
When the cow is milked and the exit gate opens, the feed manger closes up, which helps with not having cows hanging around licking the manger before leaving.
Grazing system
“Since we installed the Fullwood M2erlin during the grazing period we graze in a A/B system, said Colm.
“I hope to have more cow numbers next year, so looking to do ‘A/B/C‘. I wouldn’t have a big grazing block so maybe the C will be in the shed with silage / zero grazing.”
This is all done with a Fullwood grazing gate which is automatically controlled by the robot software.
Daily checks on the robotic milking system
“What I check the computer for is conductivity; somatic cell counts (SCC) are good at the moment, you can catch a cow with a deviation in conductivity early, you can pick them out in good time – minimising any bigger issues happening later,” Colm said.
“I also check milk deviations and how long since the last milkings.”
“Total bacteria counts (TBC’s) are also very good, I never have any trouble with them,” he continued.
“We put in the Fullwood Packo tube cooler, which helps to cool the milk before going into the tank. You can see everything is being washed correctly and once you keep your eye on detergent levels there is no issue.
“You would check any cows that are new to the system or cows which have been highlighted on the computer and that’s you.”
Quality of life
Colm and his wife Sinear have four children; Fionán, Conall, Odhran and Muireann. For the first year milking with the robot, there was plenty of coming and going to get organised, but now Colm said he has a better quality of life.
“You just have more time. If you need to take the children to football or whatever,” he said.
“If I had a robot to look after them, I would be laughing,” he joked.
Robotic Milking Open Day
Colm O Reilly, Frank McDermott Milking Machines and Fullwood Packo Ireland would like to invite farmers and those interested to come and see robotic milking with the M²erlin live in action.
An open day will take place on Colm’s farm in Corraghy, Shercock, Co. Cavan (A81 HE18) on December 15, at 11:00a.m to 2:30p.m.
Or, those interested can register by phone on: 086 060 6694.
