The drive towards robotic and rotary milking parlours is continuing throughout Ireland, in line with the changing landscape of Irish dairy farming. As herd size continues to grow and labour availability becomes a major issue, farmers are continually trying to streamline their farm by incorporating as much mechanisation as possible into their system.

While farmers have several options when it comes to the rotary they wish to install, one option that farmers may not be aware of is an internal rotary. While there are several installed in Northern Ireland, only one has been installed in the south. Michael Gunn, his wife Miriam and his parents Kevin and Eileen from just outside of Strokestown, Co Roscommon were the farmers to take the plunge.

Three generations: Kevin and Michael Gunn (back row) with Olivia and Kieran.

Parlour type

The first question that had to be answered on the farm was whether to go for a herringbone parlour or go down the rotary route.

“We had a double-up eight-unit parlour that was probably designed for 70 cows and was a brilliant parlour. We have moved to milking 180 cows in recent years and were spending two and a half hours, morning and evening in the parlour which was unsustainable,” Michael explained.

He continued: “We did look at going with a bigger double-up. We wouldn’t go with a swingover for comfort as I think there is a lot more wear and tear on yourself twisting over and back. We milk 365 days a year here so we wanted something that would be comfortable on cows and people.”

Cow flow was another aspect which drew Michael towards a rotary parlour. “I was really impressed at cow flow when we looked at other rotaries, it is a very relaxed way of milking cows and there was no need to be driving cows in or out of them.”

As there is no hired labour on the farm it was also important moving forward that the parlour was able to be operated by one man if necessary.

Additional land, adjoining the milking platform was purchased in 2015 to bring the platform to 90ha. An underpass was also installed in 2016 as the yard is located across the road from the majority of the milking platform. While a new parlour had been in the pipeline for a number of years, these investments meant that the parlour had to be pushed back until 2018.

Internal v external

After a lot of research on parlour options, it was decided to go with a 32-unit internal Boumatic rotary. The main difference with an internal rotary is that cows will enter the rotary and walk in an arc so that clusters can be attached from the inside of the parlour, as opposed to a conventional system where a farmer would stand on the outside of the parlour.

“With a conventional rotary I think it is an average of eight seconds that you will see each cow for and I didn’t really want that,” Michael explained.

“I like being able to see cows for the full rotation so you can see if there are any issues or if clusters fall off. It also helps if the children are helping with the milking or if there is someone else in the parlour that you can keep an eye on them.”

The decision to go with an internal rotary was not taken lightly with three separate visits to an internal rotary in the north. “We went in and milked in an internal rotary a few times so we could see what it is actually like. There’s no point going in and just looking at the parlour, you really need to milk in it to get a feel for it,” Michael explained.

“We had a Boumatic parlour for 20 years and it never failed to milk for us in that time,” Kevin Gunn said. “If there was ever any issue we could call and they would talk us through it. They are a great quality machine and that’s why we decided to stick with them for the rotary.

“We have sold on that parlour to a neighbour now and it still has most of its original parts which says a lot about the quality of the machine,” according to Kevin.

Between 150-160 cows could be milked per hour in the new set-up, with milking now taking an average of one hour and ten minutes at peak. “It’s enjoyable to be milking in a set-up like this and it’s safe for the children too,” Michael said.

Specs

A full rotation of the rotary takes approximately eight minutes but this can be altered if desired. There is no auto-retention system on the parlour as being able to see all cows reduces the need for this according to Michael.

A cow that kicks off the clusters can be easily spotted for example.

Some people may be conscious that cows entering this type of parlour may have to take a sharp turn, but this is not that case. Cows are led around a corner in an arc shape to the feeders, where they are positioned to have the clusters attached. Another benefit is that they have a straight exit from the parlour out to the drafting area.

When cows come into the parlour they have to turn approximately 120-130° to position themselves correctly in the stall. In a conventional parlour while cows can walk straight into the stall, they must turn 180° when they back out which can slow down movement and would arguably be more severe on feet.

“We decided not to go with the automatic teat spray as we didn’t think it offered good enough coverage, instead we will pre-wipe all teats and dip them after milking,” according to Michael. “We didn’t see the point of putting in something that’s not 100% accurate. It is worth spending the extra time spraying and cleaning udders to reduce mastitis.”

Michael continued: “Since we have started milking on the rotary in May we have only had two cases of mastitis.”

“It takes a lot of things to try and keep mastitis right but one thing could make it all go wrong,” Kevin added.

The parlour is fitted with a cluster flush system while cows are fed on a feed-to-yield system. The herd is averaging 8,000 litres at approximately 600kg milk solids per year. “We wouldn’t have a problem with feeding meal, cows would probably average 1.5t/year with it all being fed through the parlour,” Michael explained.

Collecting yard

Another impressive aspect of the set-up is the collecting yard and backing gate. The collecting yard can comfortably hold the 180 cows with a slatted tank at the back of the yard. There is a 1:20 slope in the yard up to the entrance to the parlour. “The slope not only helps to keep the yard clean but cows will prefer to walk up a slight slope so it really helps position cows straight towards the entrance of the parlour,” Michael explained.

The backing gate itself is an unusual design, being suspended from the walls of the shed. A conventional backing gate can leave a rectangle of cows that have to be herded into the parlour at the end of milking. However, this backing gate will move through the diagonal gate at the top of the yard, which forms a triangle, gently moving cows towards the parlour.

The rotary and collecting yard are all roofed. The decision was made to install fibre cement sheeting across the entire roof of the shed, supplied by Cembrit.

“We have fibre cement sheeting in all of our other sheds on the farm,” according to Michael.

“You have no moisture dripping down on cows in the collecting yard or drips over the parlour. It also helps to keep the parlour cool in the summer and once the last nail goes into it you never need to go near it again.”

Construction

The total cost of the project came to approximately €500,000 including VAT. As Michael qualifies as a young farmer he received 60% of the first €80,000 in grant aid through TAMS which he used for the milking equipment, giving a grant aid of €48,000.

All of the concrete work for the project was completed by Michael and Kevin which was a considerable saving for the farm. “We would always believe that if there is a better and easier way of doing something, then do it. If we were to increase numbers any more we would need to employ additional labour and you would have to milk a lot of cows to justify it,” Michael explained.

The farm is a really family affair with both Kieran, seven, and Olivia, nine, forming a crucial part of the milking team under strict supervision, either pre-cleaning teats or dipping teats post milking.

The parlour and backing gate was supplied and fitted by Electromech Agri. Hanly Quarries provided the stone and the concrete for the project while Regan Structural Steel supplied and erected the shed. Paul Kelly Construction provided the shuttering for the walls while Enda Kelly Electrical completed all electrical work.