Focus: New player in Irish milking machine market

James Manley from Dairypower in Cork has confirmed that the company has taken on the Waikato milking machine franchise and will be distributors of the New Zealand brand of rotary and herringbone parlours for all of Ireland.

“The Waikato brand is renowned throughout the world for its robustness, simplicity, ease of maintenance and competitive costs, both for new installations and subsequent maintenance. We’ve already sold one 44-unit rotary in Mullingar and we’ve had six other serious enquiries from farmers about rotary parlours,” Manley said.

He said that the Waikato brand will run alongside the company’s existing range of automatic scrapers and slurry aeration systems, which are manufactured from the company’s base in Cork and will service Waikato customers through new and existing dealers throughout the country.

Manley said that the Waikato brand can cater for all requirements, with as much or as little technology available as required.

He said that the design of herringbone parlours will be handled by Dairypower and farmers can specify New Zealand-style parlours with all associated drafting and handling facilities or a more conventional Irish design.

Experience

The design of rotaries will be handled by Waikato themselves, tapping into their vast experience of rotary parlour installations in New Zealand.

The company plans to launch the full range of Waikato milking machines at this year’s National Ploughing Championships next month. Dairypower is a family-owned business, which was established in 1973 by managing director John O’Donovan.

Read more from our special focus supplement on Dairy Equipment here.