How the speed of your cow-flow eventually helps your cash-flow
An open day on Seamus Brennan’s farm in Co Laois highlighted for many how a good farm layout is key to operational efficiency, says
WHEN a dairy farmer is considering investing on their farm, the first thing to do is draw a simple sketch of the farmyard layout showing the movement of cows, according to Teagasc dairy expansion service co-ordinator, Patrick Gowing.
“The site of the parlour tends to be the site of the parlour for 30 years,” said Pat. “So it’s not just a long-term investment — everything else develops around it.”
Addressing around 100 farmers who attended Seamus Brennan’s farm walk, the Teagasc man said: “Opportunities will come up. To capitalise on them, you need to ensure that you are well set up at home.”
Seamus started farming 30 years ago and, with the exception of one shed that was new at the time, all the buildings in his yard have been built since.
“Some people are building new 20-unit parlours costing €100,000, yet the most important thing they have is a stick,” Pat said cryptically, before explaining that, if cow flow is not right, there is no point in having an expensive parlour. The milking set-up needs to be a “one-person show” for most of the year, he said.
After consulting with Pat, Seamus decided that the best investment for him was to change the direction of cow movement through the yard, also adding on a backing gate and an automatic drafting crate.
Seamus could have put in more units or installed cluster removers but that would not have fixed his problems, said Pat.
Previously Seamus was out of his parlour more than he was in it, moving milked cows out to make room for those to be milked.
Now their paths do not cross and he never has to get out of the pit. It’s very simple from a labour point of view.
“A backing gate is not to push cows, it’s to reduce space,” said Pat. Seamus has a yard scraper attached to his so it goes up idle and scrapes back, to a slatted tank.
“It’s not just a lot less movement on Seamus’s part, so saving time, but it’s a lot safer, which is of particular concern as two of his children are now helping with the milking,” said Pat.
Cow movement outside the yard also needs to be consid- ered.
Pat said that, if starting on a greenfield site, the maximum number of turns or “sweeps” would be three — and that’s including coming out of the field.
“A dairy cow is nearly like an articulated lorry, she needs plenty of room to turn,” he said. The more turns, the more stops, and you are losing all the way.
“The right design means that cows stop less so they dung less. This helps avoid damage to the road and less turning for the cows means less grinding of their feet.
“Good design tends not to cost a lot more, it’s all about looking at the situation objectively,” he said.
When lameness does occur, the common solution to this is to put in a foot-bath. However, by the time the last cows, which are going to be the lame ones, get to the footbath, it will be dirty and not working.
“Lameness is the new BVD (in terms of its financial impact),” said Pat.
It is becoming an increasing issue as cows are being asked to walk further.
The Teagasc man said this is a good example of how an automatic drafting gate can be used. He pointed out that the crate needs to be placed far enough away from the parlour not to cause a traffic jam problems if a cow stops.