Farming by the shores of Lough Derg in Co. Tipperary is Ned Kelly, who works alongside his father, wife and three children. Farming has been in their family for decades with a proud history of steady and progressive growth occurring on-farm throughout the generations.

Having bought the farm in 1973, Ned’s father William made the decision to install “a proper milking parlour”, installing a standard Pearson Milking Technology six-unit swingover machine.

The opportunity arose to lease as well as purchase land after 1996, enabling the Kelly’s to increase their herd numbers throughout the years bringing their cow numbers into the 60’s by 2010.

Shortly after, in 2010, Ned took over the farm and a further upgrade from the six-unit machine saw him double his capacity.

Modern moves

Ned installed a more modern Pearson Milking Technology parlour, upgrading to a 12-unit with automatic cluster removers which allowed him much more freedom compared to the previous six-unit machine.

Through further expansion and akin to the trajectory of the Kelly’s growth, Ned eventually outgrew this parlour after 10 years. Within those 10 years, Ned had increased his cow numbers up to 140, with time in the parlour now becoming a concern.

“The twelve unit was working great, but it was just taking too long to get through cows,” he said.

“You were looking at the bones of two hours morning and evening, which is four hours a day in the pit.”

Ned reached out to Pearson Milking Technology to assess his options with the outcome being the instalment of a new 12-unit Pearson Dual Flo Double Up Parlour, complete with automatic cluster removers, an autowasher and Dual Flo individual stainless-steel cabinets.

The resulting upgrade cut his time in the parlour in half.

Dependable advice

Ned has always received trustworthy advice from Pearson Milking Technology over the years, and this recent parlour build was no exception.

Pearson recommended leaving the existing parlour area but altering the elements within such as the pit and floor areas to get the falls and slopes right within the parlour.

Ned described how “the job was done to Pearson specification”, which ensured it was done correctly.

This piece of sound advice meant that Ned didn’t need to build a new parlour which was beneficial to him both from an economic and efficiency stand point by being advised to opt for the double-up parlour design and keeping the original area.

Double-up parlour

The double-up parlour design incorporates a milking unit for each cow allowing both rows to be milked simultaneously.

The result was that Ned could streamline his given space with him describing the 12-unit double up set up as “absolutely ideal for a one-man set up” allowing him to get the maximum performance out of his existing parlour area.

Pearson also recommended Ned should go with their ‘Express Fit, One Day Switch’ service, ensuring his parlour was installed with minimal downtime.

“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.”

The express fit service Pearson offered allowed Ned to continue his day-day work with no downtime needed in the install. On this, he said:

“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.”

Ned went from milking the same number of cows in two hours that morning to one hour that evening.

Having previously thought he would never go bigger than a 12-unit parlour Ned has benefited hugely from the service and wealth of experience Pearson Milking Technology offered him.

“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 how they can support your farm’s development, click here or call; 059 86 31842