“We are doing less work and have become more profitable…”

Tim Leahy milks 150 spring-calving Holstein Friesian cows, with the assistance of a full-time worker on his dairy farm near Listowel, Co. Kerry.

Since the removal of quotas, his herd size has increased by about 30 cows. However, his main focus has been improving the individual performance of each cow.

In recent years, Tim invested in technology on the farm in order to make it an easier place to work and to improve the herd’s production.

Tim stated: “I am a firm believer that technology is the way forward, we can see that in every walk of life”.

Introducing Technology

In the spring of 2017, Tim took his first steps in using technology on the farm with his purchase of the MooMonitor+ system with an integrated drafting gate.

“Once you go down that road there is no going back, it is another set of eyes watching the cows and it is also a massive labour saver”, he said.

“You’re detecting sick cows and non-cycling cows earlier than you would without the system”.

Fertility and performance on the farm is excellent, with 90% of the cows calved in just under six-weeks. Before the MooMonitor+ system was installed, the farm’s six-week calving rate was 75%.

“The work I put in to get it to that 75% was ridiculous; I was watching cows for one-month to six-weeks, before the start of breeding, trying to find non-cycling cows, but it was almost impossible to get them all,” Tim continued.

“Now before we start breeding we know that every cow is cycling and has a chance to go in-calf in the first six-weeks of breeding.

“Having more cows calving in a shorter period is also a big revenue boost for the farm – our cows have more days in-milk.

“There is only one way to make money from a dairy cow and that is when she is in the parlour, the MooMonitor+ has been a fantastic success.”

Health Monitoring

Commenting on the health monitoring feature of the MooMonitor+, Tim said: “I find the collars work best for health issues when the cows are dry and not going through the parlour.

“You don’t have that physical contact with every cow like you would when they are milking.

“Each morning when I get up I check the app for behavioural alerts, this way I know before I look in the shed that there is a cow with an issue.”

Giving an example, Tim said: “We had a cow during the middle of her dry-period, that just stopped eating. She was walking around the shed fine, but stopped eating.

“I put the cow into a pen and called the vet; he had no faith that the cow would survive – but she did. 

“He [the vet] told me that he wouldn’t usually see a cow like her until 48 hours later, but because of the alert she was seen earlier and was able to be saved.”

Everything but the steel work

During the dry period, Tim took the opportunity to upgrade the milking parlour on the farm.

“We had a 20-unit parlour but we upgraded to a 20-unit Swiftflo Commander, with auto ID, feed to yield and milk meters,” he said.

“All technology in the parlour was upgraded and the information we are getting now is amazing.

“The heat detection is fully automated. A cow in heat is just waiting for you in the pen after milking. If I see a cow I want to draft, I just have to press one button and she’ll be in the pen”.

Commenting on the feed to yield system, Tim said: “We are seeing improved yields from the cows because we are feeding our best producers. We are only in the new parlour six weeks and we are up 27,500L.

“I cannot give all the credit to the parlour; our nutritionist deserves some credit but we can give about half of that to the parlour.

“There’s a cow that I thought was just an average cow, but she’s producing 55L and I never would have known that before. She’s now the best cow on the farm.”

Continuing, Tim said: “We completed our first milk recording in the parlour and all the technician brought was just their handheld device and sample bottles.

“It was much simpler to set up and there was no messing trying to identify cows.”

Technology is ‘another line of defence’

Ease of use is an important part of the investment, Tim said: “I’m on the MooMonitor+ app everyday, ten times a day.

“Once a cow calves, I go onto the app, find the cow and change her to calved. That way when she comes into the parlour it knows she’s a colostrum cow and must not be milked into the tank.

“The MooMonitor+ system and parlour are able to communicate with each other, so we don’t have to put red tape on cows or worry about a cow milking into the tank that shouldn’t be.

“It is another line of defence for me. The second the cow steps into the parlour I know that she can’t be milked into the tank.

“When there’s a relief milker in, it is another line of defence for me that a cow that shouldn’t be milked into the tank won’t be.”

Overall, Tim concluded, technology was a worthwhile investment for his farm.

“We are doing less work and have become more profitable,” he said.

“The cows are healthy and producing better than before, life is just much easier.”

Listen to Tim Leahy tell his story here…