You spin me right round, baby

mixed farm · Jun 11, 2020

Cows 'n grass said:
We have done much the same.

How many are you milking now?

We calved nearly 600 this year and I've already culled nearly 40 fresh cows (Inc 8 more today) to get back to 555. If TB allows I will be selling most of my IC heifers this year to cut back to 500 for next year because I've come to the conclusions there's no easy way to milk a big number of cows and there is definitely more to life than cows so I'm going to milk slightly fewer going forward.

I agree with most of this, except cut numbers back to around 80! Milking over 100 and keep all calves to stores here so as to make land purchase repayments. Would love to be debt free and milk 80 and sell calves. I'm in derogation in Ireland and I think if that's phased out it would actually be a major positive for the dairy industry. All just running to stand still.

Cows 'n grass · Jun 12, 2020

mixed farm said:
I agree with most of this, except cut numbers back to around 80! Milking over 100 and keep all calves to stores here so as to make land purchase repayments. Would love to be debt free and milk 80 and sell calves. I'm in derogation in Ireland and I think if that's phased out it would actually be a major positive for the dairy industry. All just running to stand still.

You're still ahead of me.

I'm all rented and saving for the deposit on a block of land so that the next generation can make repayments if they choose to have a go at farming.

Dead Rabbits · Jun 12, 2020

mixed farm said:
I agree with most of this, except cut numbers back to around 80! Milking over 100 and keep all calves to stores here so as to make land purchase repayments. Would love to be debt free and milk 80 and sell calves. I'm in derogation in Ireland and I think if that's phased out it would actually be a major positive for the dairy industry. All just running to stand still.

Id be perfectly happy with 3 cows.

Agrifool · Jun 13, 2020

I also see on social media a waikato rotary going in somewhere south England to replace robots.

Dead Rabbits · Sep 11, 2020

@Bald Rick What did you settle on for cow prep? What was the final verdict on the teat brush? How do you find the in floor teat spray, is it consistent with good coverage?

I need to start the push to add acrs and whatever else is needed so I can go to a 1 man barn and 2 in bad weather to prep.

Bald Rick · Sep 11, 2020

Dead Rabbits said:
@Bald Rick What did you settle on for cow prep? What was the final verdict on the teat brush? How do you find the in floor teat spray, is it consistent with good coverage?

I need to start the push to add acrs and whatever else is needed so I can go to a 1 man barn and 2 in bad weather to prep.

As with anything teat prep, it really is down to the person. We found the brush actually raised bactos in to 00s. Possibly because the speed of the platform meant there was some carelessness with using it. Plus it gets heavy after a time. Moved back to clothes but our industrial washing machine has blown up and cannot seem to get parts so having to use domestic machine which doesn’t get hot enough. Next stop, disposable wipes.

On floor sprayer is ok but misses smaller cows/heifers that shuffle forward. However pattern is good. Colour lit pods are excellent for picking out kick offs at distance

Dead Rabbits · Sep 11, 2020

Bald Rick said:
As with anything teat prep, it really is down to the person. We found the brush actually raised bactos in to 00s. Possibly because the speed of the platform meant there was some carelessness with using it. Plus it gets heavy after a time. Moved back to clothes but our industrial washing machine has blown up and cannot seem to get parts so having to use domestic machine which doesn’t get hot enough. Next stop, disposable wipes.

On floor sprayer is ok but misses smaller cows/heifers that shuffle forward. However pattern is good. Colour lit pods are excellent for picking out kick offs at distance

I see, how many seconds per cow do you run?
How do kick offs work? Someone runs around to chain them on?

Bald Rick · Sep 11, 2020

Dead Rabbits said:
I see, how many seconds per cow do you run?
How do kick offs work? Someone runs around to chain them on?

Tbh I don’t have much/anything to do with milking but it runs at around 320/hour

They stop the platform for a kick off and if it’s a heifer, will stay with it until milked out

Cows 'n grass · Sep 11, 2020

Dead Rabbits said:
@Bald Rick What did you settle on for cow prep? What was the final verdict on the teat brush? How do you find the in floor teat spray, is it consistent with good coverage?

I need to start the push to add acrs and whatever else is needed so I can go to a 1 man barn and 2 in bad weather to prep.

Surely you don't get bad weather and mud over there? I think that's just a UK thing...

Gerbert · Sep 11, 2020

Is that uddergun made out of gold? I really like the idea and had a brief look at it but the price looked to be grabbed out of thin air and then doubled. On the other hand, what we settled with is a fair bit more expensive, a robot.

Dead Rabbits · Sep 12, 2020

Cows 'n grass said:
Surely you don't get bad weather and mud over there? I think that's just a UK thing...

Right.! I am just a fair weather farmer.

Milkcow365 · Nov 3, 2023

Few years in now, how’s it all going?

Bald Rick · Nov 3, 2023

Milkcow365 said:
Few years in now, how’s it all going?

Happy.
Was the right decision so no regrets. Ultimately l think an element of robotics will be sourced to replace one person and potentially make 3X more viable. Looking at what Peacock are developing but bit off yet

IDS Teat — Peacock Technology

www.peacocktechnology.com

vantage · Nov 4, 2023

Bald Rick said:
Happy.
Was the right decision so no regrets. Ultimately l think an element of robotics will be sourced to replace one person and potentially make 3X more viable. Looking at what Peacock are developing but bit off yet

IDS Teat — Peacock Technology

www.peacocktechnology.com

Don’t Delaval have a robot arm similar?

Bald Rick · Nov 4, 2023

vantage said:
Don’t Delaval have a robot arm similar?

There are a few out there but one thing we like about Peacock is that they are supposedly developing a thermal imaging camera that can detect mastitis even before there is physical evidence.
But it's all gone a bit quiet ...

Pity Lely aren't doing one .. or are they?

In the pit · Nov 4, 2023

Bald Rick said:
There are a few out there but one thing we like about Peacock is that they are supposedly developing a thermal imaging camera that can detect mastitis even before there is physical evidence.
But it's all gone a bit quiet ...

Pity Lely aren't doing one .. or are they?

Waikato have got a lot of stuff in development for rotary milking

Bald Rick · Nov 4, 2023

In the pit said:
Waikato have got a lot of stuff in development for rotary milking

Problem as we see it atm is that the robot arm is too slow for a rotary as they are repurposed vehicle assembly ones.
May be this is where AI will win out?

You spin me right round, baby

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