Producing high-quality milk is the number one priority for all dairy farmers, so maintaining a hygienic parlour is necessary to reduce contamination risks from thermoduric bacteria.
The contamination of milk with thermoduric bacteria can cause processing problems for the dairy industry, which reduces overall farm profits.
Therefore, dairy farmers must wash down milk lines and bulk milk storage tanks, using large quantities of boiling water to eliminate any risk of bacterial contamination.
With this in mind, gas water heaters can achieve a reliable and consistent supply of hot water almost immediately, in comparison to other heating options.
Making the switch to gas
In the video below, Tom Manning, a dairy farmer from Co. Kilkenny, discusses why he made the switch to gas with Calor.
Keeping up to date with industry advancements has always been a priority to Tom. In 2017, he decided to install a Delaval VMS robotic milking system on his farm.
Speaking about his farm’s technology, Tom said: “One of the reasons I wanted to come home was that I wanted to look at the robotic system and go down that route, so with this new set up, we’re hoping that we’ll stay up to date for the next 15-20 years.
“It is exciting. I suppose for any farmers in any industry, you have to keep up with what’s out there and we do try to do that here.
“We’re always trying to improve on our set-up. There’s no point in standing still.”
Previously, the Kilkenny farmer used electricity to power his farm’s water heating but decided to make to switch the gas when Delaval recommended Calor LPG, which guaranteed Tom a supply of instant hot water at up to 85°.
High-quality milk
Maintaining hygiene in the parlour is a key factor in producing high-quality milk. With an instant supply of hot water at up to 85° with Calor’s system, thermoduric bacteria are eliminated instantly.
Calor’s solution provides large quantities of hot water instantaneously, which is required each day to wash milk lines and bulk milk storage tanks.
“The instant hot water at 85° for cleaning your machines and cleaning your bulk tank keeps our TBC [total bacteria count] counts very low,” Tom said.
Financial support
For all farmers, keeping costs at a minimum is extremely important, and making on-farm advancements can be expensive.
However, grant aid of up to 40% is available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) for certain upgrade projects. This includes improvements to water heating systems.
The TAMS II Dairy Equipment Scheme was launched shortly after the lifting of dairy quotas in Ireland in 2015. The scheme aims to ensure that farmers have access to the most up-to-date technology to enable them to compete and prosper in the modern dairy sector.
Specific areas of investment include: Milking machines; milk cooling and storage equipment; water heating; and in-parlour feeding systems.
Customer support
Caring for, and working with farmers to reduce costs and improve farming efficiency is Calor’s number one priority.
Calor energy advisors work directly with dairy farmers to design water heating systems that reduce costs and work for their farm enterprise. As water is heated only when required, hot water storage costs are eliminated.
Discussing Calor’s customer support, Tom mentioned: “Calor has a huge part to play [in our farm’s advancements].
“The system that they put in, and then helped us put it in, because it was new to them, new to us and new to Delaval. We saw the plusses in having Calor involved [with us].”
Delivered to your door
Calor’s intuitive telemetry system also ensures that you will never run short on gas as a gauge continuously monitors gas levels.
When a gas top-up is required, a transmitter on the fuel gauge sends a signal and a fuel top–up is automatically scheduled.
Discussing the simplicity and effectiveness of this feature, Tom said: “When the gas gets to a certain threshold on the tank, an alarm is sent out to the Calor delivery service and within a week the tank is topped up.
“There’s no need to be checking levels on tanks. It’s one less worry we have.”
High-tech
Discussing his on-farm set-up provided by Calor, Tom said: “The idea of the heaters is that you get one heater per machine.
“We’ve two VMS systems – two robots – and we’ve one tank. You have a heater per machine and a heater for your tank.”
The Rinnai water heaters, which are integral to the solution, are unique in that the equipment is ‘A rated’ for efficiency. As a result, this system is future-proofed to meet the demands of new legislations in terms of equipment specification.
The Calor Rinnai water-heating solution provides the following features:
- ‘A’ rated for efficiency;
- Full modulation and condensing;
- Stainless steel construction;
- Variable temperature control.
Speaking about the supply and availability of the farm’s hot water provided by this system, Tom said:
“If you want hot water for any of the jobs around the farm, it’s there instantly for us. There’s no worry about if we’ll have hot water, or waiting for hot water.”
Sustainable solution
Origin Green and the Sustainable Dairy Scheme are placing a greater focus on improving the environmental performance of Irish farms.
With this in mind, it is beneficial to note that Calor’s instantaneous water heaters minimise the need for chemical detergent use on dairy farms.
Furthermore, LPG is one of the cleanest conventional fuels available, producing far lower carbon emissions than oil, coal, peat and even electricity.
Calor has also introduced BioLPG which is a new, renewable form of LPG.
BioLPG will enable rural enterprises to meet their energy needs from a completely renewable source, providing them with a simple transition to a sustainable energy solution.
BioLPG is identical in its use and performance in comparison to conventional LPG and is delivered, stored and used in exactly the same way.
As a result, there are limited requirements for any infrastructure investment in order to use it.
Click here for further information on making the switch to Calor.
