New milking machine was ready in the nick of time – now it’s up to me to adjust to it
All the planning and prayers paid off as the new milking machine was ready a few days before calving began, as the extended dry cow period came to an end.
I was expecting the fitters to begin on Monday, January 8. They came on the Wednesday, as they had been delayed on another fitting job.
For six solid days five fitters worked diligently and professionally to install the new milking machine.
My electrician was on standby too, to make sure power was available to the various motors, and it turned out we had to install a new fuseboard.
The old fuse-board was too crowded and now every circuit has its own RCBO or MCB, which further protects the motor and most importantly the operator. It is definitely a worthwhile investment.
On the electrician’s advice too and from talking to other dairy farmers, I applied to ESB Networks to increase my power supply from the existing 12kVA.
I was amazed by the amount of pipework, levers, buttons and controls that have taken over from my simplistic machine, not to mention the pipeline and bucket plants I used and even the three-legged stool.
It will take me a while to get used to everything. Getting the three litres of colostrum may take a while longer but thankfully the next generation seem to soak up the instructions quickly.
Luckily too, tuition and advice are only a phonecall away from our local Dairymaster rep and fellow discussion group farmers.
Meanwhile, our first clear TB test was a big relief earlier in the month, and we survived the storms, with a few galvanised sheets on roofs displaced.
My DKIT course started up again last Monday after the Christmas break, although we had a written exam on January 3. It’s hard to believe that we are now in our last term and the finish date of early May is clearly in sight.
The three subjects for this term are agricultural entrepreneurship & diversification, agriculture & climate change, and agri-food quality management. Like most of the subjects on the course so far they can be brought back to farm level.
When we started talking about the characteristics of an entrepreneur our first thoughts are risk-taker, creative, determination to succeed, hard-working, it became obvious that many of these traits apply to farmers.
One of the many definitions sums up the role of a farmer: “An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills that enable people to identify and make the most of opportunities, overcome and learn from setbacks, and succeed in a variety of settings.” (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship 2023).
Few people see farmers as entrepreneurs but every farmer’s goal is to produce as high a quality product as possible, whether it is milk, beef, lamb, poultry, pig or whatever.
We are all the time trying to improve our produce, our lifestyle and the communities we come from.
Social entrepreneurship can be equally as important and successful too, as entrepreneurship is not all about making money.
As February nears, bringing with it new life, bigger workloads and slurry spreading, we can’t forget the challenges of weather, derogation and market returns, but be positive and know that our entrepreneurial spirit will succeed in facing the challenges of 2024.
‘I was amazed by the amount of pipework, levers, buttons and controls that have taken over from my simplistic machine’