More days/mornings off or shorter easier day

Even with the higher running cost the rotary has got to be the best option, would knock a considerable amount of time off your milking so possibly run a member of staff less, easily funding the running costs of the rotary
 
Location
West Wales
If you want the truth dont bother asking a farmer either!

Our dealer printed off all the parlour software reports so its as close to the truth as you are going to get give or take some yield meter inaccuracy. Other thing to do is go and stand there for a milking.

really curious to why all the farms agreed to share the report and the dealer to show people. Agreed though outputs can be a little different to what’s being said
 

DairyGrazing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North West
really curious to why all the farms agreed to share the report and the dealer to show people. Agreed though outputs can be a little different to what’s being said

What would the negatives be from sharing that information, would you not be willing to share yours? One of the worst aspects of dairy industry is a lack of clear information this being a good example.

If I was the manufacturer/dealer I'd want to know the cows/hr litres/hr operator numbers of all the parlours i'd sold and take prospective customers to the best ones.

One brand area manager

ME "What parlour do we need to milk 200 cows/2500litres an hour."
Him "I'll sell you what ever you."
Me "Thats not what I asked."
Him...........................

Boumatic, Fullwood, Deleval reps/dealer didn't have a single bit of information on throughs or litres/hrs. It was like I was the first person to ever ask.
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
If youv got good staff who you like I’d Definatly check with them about reducing there hours ect because some people just love working hours and won’t take kindly too having there hours/money cut.. and go looking for more hours elsewhere... you might think your being the best boss is the world too realise nobody wanted it ...
 

had e nuff

Member
Location
Durham
If youv got good staff who you like I’d Definatly check with them about reducing there hours ect because some people just love working hours and won’t take kindly too having there hours/money cut.. and go looking for more hours elsewhere... you might think your being the best boss is the world too realise nobody wanted it ...
I think he's already said he would probably pay them same money
 

DairyGrazing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North West
If youv got good staff who you like I’d Definatly check with them about reducing there hours ect because some people just love working hours and won’t take kindly too having there hours/money cut.. and go looking for more hours elsewhere... you might think your being the best boss is the world too realise nobody wanted it ...
I think he's already said he would probably pay them same money

Yeah got to be the same amount of money total just less hours.

That goes for the relief milkers as well other wise theres no point in them coming, travel time dilutes the earnings down too much otherwise. Block calver up the road pays the same when milking takes 3 hours or 30 mins.
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
What would the negatives be from sharing that information, would you not be willing to share yours? One of the worst aspects of dairy industry is a lack of clear information this being a good example.

If I was the manufacturer/dealer I'd want to know the cows/hr litres/hr operator numbers of all the parlours i'd sold and take prospective customers to the best ones.

One brand area manager

ME "What parlour do we need to milk 200 cows/2500litres an hour."
Him "I'll sell you what ever you."
Me "Thats not what I asked."
Him...........................

Boumatic, Fullwood, Deleval reps/dealer didn't have a single bit of information on throughs or litres/hrs. It was like I was the first person to ever ask.
I’m most surprised that you couldn’t get any Delaval output figures. I’ve got Delpro on my parlour and the information on throughput of milk, cows, kickoffs etc is easily seen by my dealer .
 

DairyGrazing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North West
I’m most surprised that you couldn’t get any Delaval output figures. I’ve got Delpro on my parlour and the information on throughput of milk, cows, kickoffs etc is easily seen by my dealer .

Deleval came back with someone who was high up the technical chain who had great knowledge of their parlour capabilities.
 

Fools Gold

Member
Livestock Farmer
Interesting topic, my only advice would be to have a large enough collecting yard and plenty space at front of parlour to allow for easy cow flow.
Plenty people like to claim impressive cow throughput but whether the figures they quote are consistently achieved or a one off from a “good day in May” is debatable. Have seen plenty set ups where the cows are hammered through the parlour and washing up at the end seems to be a chore too far!
Acr’s, auto ID, milk meters, Adf, auto wash and segregation seem to be frowned upon by some as expensive to maintain and unnecessary but from my experience are well worth it by making the job easier.
A keen eye and proper observation can pick up many problems with cows while milking, something that can’t be achieved if your just throwing units on as fast as possible.
 

Dead Rabbits

Member
Location
'Merica
What is your labor cost per liter? I’d likely be more interested in that than cows or liter per hour. Systems vary and parlor operators vary too much for this to be significantly relevant when comparing brands. Labor per unit of production never lies. One of my great joys in life is maximizing efficiency, which is effective work done in a given time.

Doesnt seem to matter what the parlor is if the entry and exit restrict cow flow in any manner. It gets done poorly way too much. Even in new builds. Floor slope, texture, barn lighting, entry and exit angles can cost minutes per row.

My impression of rapid exits is that they are oversold and likely to make everyone but you more money. Not had any personal experience with them. Enjoyed your video of the home built one.

I wouldn’t discount a rotary.(except an internal, those are retarded) If the cost adds up for you nothing is more efficient for milk extraction once you push numbers much higher than what you have. I’ve kept some “interesting” rotary parlors going for several years now. Maintenance is key, and it only costs big if you neglect them. They are a simple machine once you get to know them. Brand seems to matter more with these.

I don’t have any experience with automation like acrs, adf auto ID and auto drafting but based on what I have seen and read and talked to people on I wouldn’t stray too far from kiwi brands if you go with a rotary.

Whatever you do just consider the cost of every minute added to a milking session, don’t forget wash down times. It soon adds up over a year. Labor will continue to increase, milk prices will not. History is very clear on this.
 
Location
West Wales
What would the negatives be from sharing that information, would you not be willing to share yours? One of the worst aspects of dairy industry is a lack of clear information this being a good example.

If I was the manufacturer/dealer I'd want to know the cows/hr litres/hr operator numbers of all the parlours i'd sold and take prospective customers to the best ones.

One brand area manager

ME "What parlour do we need to milk 200 cows/2500litres an hour."
Him "I'll sell you what ever you."
Me "Thats not what I asked."
Him...........................

Boumatic, Fullwood, Deleval reps/dealer didn't have a single bit of information on throughs or litres/hrs. It was like I was the first person to ever ask.

i would be uneasy about data being “collected” about my herd without me agreeing to it. No issue if they ask and I chose to. I think washing times are often forgotten too. I think we around the 20minutes mark for a 16:32
 

thewalrus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
Long term finding staff wanting to work 60 hour week is only going to get harder. People value their free time more and more. Current staff might be happy with the long hours, there’s a generation coming through that certainly aren’t and like a lot more flexibility!

When it’s getting harder for football/rugby teams to get enough players as people don’t want to give up the whole day/morning or afternoon , with travel and playing! What’s it going to be like looking staff!
 
Dont forget the rubber matter in the pit!

I've seen 5 American style ones of varying sizes in the UK/IRE and they have all been unimpressive. Im proposing a swing over with a simple lift up tube front. 50 degree so it loads quickly and in an emergency they can still walk out the front.
There was a story round here that a young lad went home to go farming with his father and decided he wanted rubber mats in the pit or he wouldn't go milking. So his father told him to bring home one of them so he could have a better look at it. The father was duly impressed and told the son to leave it with him for a day. The son was thrilled and went off about his business for the day.
Next morning, the young lad got up and out and changed into his wellingtons for milking and found them much higher than normal. Turns out, his father had cut the meter squared panel into the size of his sons wellingtons and glued them onto the soles, floor fully matted for the price of one panel:LOL:
 

335d

Member
There was a story round here that a young lad went home to go farming with his father and decided he wanted rubber mats in the pit or he wouldn't go milking. So his father told him to bring home one of them so he could have a better look at it. The father was duly impressed and told the son to leave it with him for a day. The son was thrilled and went off about his business for the day.
Next morning, the young lad got up and out and changed into his wellingtons for milking and found them much higher than normal. Turns out, his father had cut the meter squared panel into the size of his sons wellingtons and glued them onto the soles, floor fully matted for the price of one panel:LOL:

 

DairyGrazing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North West
Long term finding staff wanting to work 60 hour week is only going to get harder. People value their free time more and more. Current staff might be happy with the long hours, there’s a generation coming through that certainly aren’t and like a lot more flexibility!

When it’s getting harder for football/rugby teams to get enough players as people don’t want to give up the whole day/morning or afternoon , with travel and playing! What’s it going to be like looking staff!

That's my issue really in a couple of years we will lose our herdsman, morning relief, afternoon relief and both weekend guys due to age. I should probably be more proactive and move people on to get some younger people in but the current guys have been here along time plus they are very good and reliable. Maybe need to be more ruthless.

Club cricket and rugby is struggling round here at the moment. Like you say too much of the day taken up. I've no sympathy for the Cricket Clubs as they refuse to start earlier and play a different format. A couple of dairy guys have stopped playing rugby because they've got more worried about getting injured. Playing hockey was much easier, my old club has gone from 5 to 8 teams I think, with a lot of farmers still playing.
 
Last edited:

DairyGrazing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North West
What is your labor cost per liter? I’d likely be more interested in that than cows or liter per hour. Systems vary and parlor operators vary too much for this to be significantly relevant when comparing brands. Labor per unit of production never lies. One of my great joys in life is maximizing efficiency, which is effective work done in a given time.

Doesnt seem to matter what the parlor is if the entry and exit restrict cow flow in any manner. It gets done poorly way too much. Even in new builds. Floor slope, texture, barn lighting, entry and exit angles can cost minutes per row.

My impression of rapid exits is that they are oversold and likely to make everyone but you more money. Not had any personal experience with them. Enjoyed your video of the home built one.

I wouldn’t discount a rotary.(except an internal, those are retarded) If the cost adds up for you nothing is more efficient for milk extraction once you push numbers much higher than what you have. I’ve kept some “interesting” rotary parlors going for several years now. Maintenance is key, and it only costs big if you neglect them. They are a simple machine once you get to know them. Brand seems to matter more with these.

I don’t have any experience with automation like acrs, adf auto ID and auto drafting but based on what I have seen and read and talked to people on I wouldn’t stray too far from kiwi brands if you go with a rotary.

Whatever you do just consider the cost of every minute added to a milking session, don’t forget wash down times. It soon adds up over a year. Labor will continue to increase, milk prices will not. History is very clear on this.


Labour cost is our worst metric at the moment, 5.5ppl paid + drawings. For our farm, stock number and circumstances its probably 0.5-1.25ppl too much.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I know a couple of Eeastern European lads who had saved up enough money to buy a patch of land and build a house. They "retired" but came back after a bit because they were bored and the kids hated it.

Apopros nothing, I remember speaking with a Polish guy a couple of years ago, post Brexit, who said he would go back, but his Wife loved loiving and working in the UK, and the kids had settled in schools locally. They had a big holiday "back home" and that confirmed the intention to stop in Blighty. :)
 

Dead Rabbits

Member
Location
'Merica
Labour cost is our worst metric at the moment, 5.5ppl paid + drawings. For our farm, stock number and circumstances its probably 0.5-1.25ppl too much.
That would pretty much tell you where money is best spent and it may not all be within the parlor. The parlor is just the largest time suck and the only job on a dairy that actually produces income.

Some very impressive figures from members on here.
 

Farmer Keith

Member
Location
North Cumbria
Need to foam and dip in the summer at the moment. Get away with a lot less in winter.

Not got much more to add than what’s already been said but this seems insane? Most farms will be the opposite is there an issue with tracks/paddock entrances? Surely be a potentially huge labour saving in the parlour if you could simplify the routine.

Big simple parlour for me and if most of your staff are approaching retirement get going training some younger lads up sounds like an extra set of hands wouldn’t go a miss.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 79 42.0%
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    Votes: 30 16.0%
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    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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