If ever there was a year to demonstrate the importance of good facilities and equipment then this is it. There is no doubt but everything is harder when facilities and equipment are unreliable or unpleasant to work in. This special Focus looks at milking equipment and what some farmers have done to improve facilities on their farm. Better facilities help to reduce the workload and improve the efficiency of the farm.

We travel to Kerry, the home of Dairymaster to see a new parlour installed by the company. Myles Cronin was spending four hours morning and evening milking 150 cows. After making a big investment in housing and milking facilities, it now takes him less than two hours to milk and wash up.

We talk through ways of making milking more efficient. Practices that were OK when 50 cows were milked in a six-unit parlour are not necessarily OK when 200 cows are milked in a 30-unit parlour. The big issue is idle time and the best way to overcome this is to fill the row at the same time as the previous row is leaving. To do this, the front gate must be able to be opened from anywhere in the pit and closed just behind the last cow out. The days of swinging gates at the front of parlours are numbered.

There are two features on robotic milking in this Focus. There’s no doubt but they are a good option for some farmers such as Michael Fagan.

Owen Cashman reports from the launch of the new DeLaval robot. It is good to see competition in the market making advancements in technology.