Neil and Kerryn Gannon installed a newer second-hand rotary dairy a couple of years ago to improve the efficiency of milking twice a day.
It’s part of their ongoing aims of improving efficiency on their 267ha flood-irrigated dairy farm at Tinamba, in the Macalister Irrigation District.
There was already a 45-year-old 36-bay rotary platform in use but it required constant maintenance and was in need of a big equipment upgrade.
Neil came across a 44-bay second-hand rotary dairy and thought it would be ideal for his farm. Improvements include automatic drafting and cup removers, automatic cow identification and feeding, milk meters and all the milking plant.
“The plant was about 10 years old and we dismantled it and rebuilt it ourselves, in a stand-alone shed with a new platform with electric drives next door to the old dairy,” Neil said.
That position used the existing stockyards and enabled the automatic drafting system to be adopted easily.
“I organised the steel work for the entry and exit races and draft box,” Neil said.
“The shed was erected by the supplier, and contractors installed the platform and did concreting.”
He dismantled the old rotary and converted the space into a staff room with kitchen area, and an area for storing the calf milk trailers.
“The new dairy provides a lot more open and better working environment,” he said. “It’s also a lot less maintenance.”
The shed began being erected in April and Neil and his workers had the new dairy installed and operating by early August.
“We had to milk about 50 cows fresh in milk in the old dairy before starting work in the new one,” Neil said.
Time saved in spades
It’s now been two full seasons using the new dairy.
“It saves us a lot of time,” Neil said.
The milking herd is seasonal calving, starting in August. Neil runs two herds every year, joining Friesian to Jersey, and Jersey to Friesian, working towards a three-way cross.
Cows are in the milking herd and the heifers are in a second herd. A significant advantage of the new dairy is the electronic identification and automatic drafting of cows. Cows under treatment are locked out of cups-on to prevent accidental milking. In the old dairy, this was a concern.
“Auto drafting was the big advantage for us,” Neil said. “You can set drafts ahead of time for drying off and sorting calving cows. It locks out any cows receiving veterinary treatment, which reduces the risk of human error.”
While one person is milking, a second person can bring the heifer (second) herd in from the paddock and be responsible for herd changeover and cleaning the stockyards. Three weeks before calving, the heifers are brought through the dairy three times, so they get used to walking on concrete, going through a race, and the sight, sound and smell. This practice enables the heifer to be calmer when she’s introduced to milking.
“We’re using much the same workforce, but now it’s a bit more comfortable milking and a bit shorter milking time,” Neil said.
“We’re milking 450 cows at the moment. It takes us about 100 minutes to milk the herd. Then there’s the clean-up. It all makes the shift two hours in total.
“We run the heifers in a separate herd to the milkers, all year, until we start drying off. The heifers do well out of it — they don’t get bullied or pushed to the back of the yard, they build confidence, and at the same time the whole herd isn’t standing on concrete.
“The second rostered person’s job is to bring the second herd in.
“We also put old cows or lame cows that are recovering in that second herd, because that second herd doesn’t have far to walk to the dairy.”
Progressively through the year, heifers move into the main herd.
“Any temperamental heifers get put in the main herd to see if they’ll settle down,” Neil said.
“If that doesn’t work, tolerance is zero and she’s off to the abattoirs.”