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Automation means less time, more quality, in farm dairy

In one step, Northland dairy farmers Graeme and Carol Cotton, have increased the quality while reducing the quantity of the time spent in the farm dairy

In one step, Northland dairy farmers Graeme and Carol Cotton, have increased the quality while reducing the quantity of the time spent in the farm dairy. And it's come via a farm automation system.

Milking cows generally occupies around 57% of labour time on most dairy farms and it was a desire to better utilise this resource without compromising quality which led Graeme and Carol to look to technology for answers.

"In 2008 we built a concrete feedpad adjacent to our cowshed but experienced some cowflow problems - the cows had to negotiate a sharp bend as they were leaving the shed and would back-up resulting in staff having to devote time and effort into keeping them moving so there was no interruption to cowflow.

"Integration of the feed pad and cowshed was a priority for us. We are an intensive split calving farming unit and therefore fully feeding cows is essential in order to achieve high production.

"We also have so many mobs and different cows to draft out at any one time that we were spending much of a day drafting.

"Due to the layout of our shed we were working within a tight space with very little room where the cows exited the shed and we had thought our only solution was to build a new shed."

However, following a visit to the Northland Field Days the couple found an unexpected solution.

"We discovered Livestock Improvement (LIC) could install a Protrack automated drafting system to fit in with our current shed design. We were thrilled.

Graeme and Carol said since its installation the Protrack system has exceeded all their expectations.

"We really wanted the cows to flow as they left the shed, and we wanted hassle free drafting, to be able to put in the cow number and let the rest happen automatically.

"Data entry happens in the shed as it happens, it has tidied up our herd records and eliminated double ups, provided huge interest in the herd for our Sharemilkers Steve and Marion Bowers and an unexpected spin-off is that the once techno-phobic Steve is now a whiz on the shed computer."

Sharemilkers Steve and Marion Bowers said when the Cotton's first told them about installing a Protrack system they thought, "bonus", having had it now for one year they say, "we couldn't work without it."

"Protrack has revolutionised how we do our work," say Steve and Marion.

"There is not any other single technological introduction that I've had anything to do with which has had such a huge impact on how we run the farm," adds Steve.

"We get through way more work quicker and spend a lot less time milking and in the shed. To go without Protrack now, would feel like we'd had our throats cut."

Now in their fifth season managing the Mangapai farm the Bowers say since the installation of the automated drafting system their daily farming routine is more organised, productive and efficient and their interest in the herd has significantly increased.

"There is just a lot less running around.

"We draft big numbers, often three ways, and it doesn't miss a draft - cows go left, right and straight through, we can pull cows out when ever we want - for AB, lameness or health issues - that's the beauty of it."

Steve and Marion say it didn't take the cows long to get used to the new Protrack system.

"We didn't really get any resistance, it immediately improved cow flow and we didn't even experience any difficulties with the heifers, we just ran them through the shed a few times with the dries.

"We then split them into mobs of 20-30, which trained them how to bale up and was something we had never thought about doing before Protrack."

The couple say as a result of Protrack their record keeping has improved and they enjoy monitoring and seeing the rate of genetic gain in their herd, along with increasing BW and PWs.

"With Protrack all the information we need is on screen in the shed, there's no more looking around for notes on the right bit of paper or cardboard and no more going out into paddocks looking for cows with a sheet of paper.

"We used to have screeds of paper and books with cow information and it would take a lot of effort to link everything up, now all the ancestral information is right there at our fingertips, with a push of a button we can see it all."

"Also, the beauty of the system is we can run groups within the two separate herds, this eliminates confusion and mix-ups during spring calving and when we are pregnancy testing the winter herd, and sorting out the springers was in the past a full day's work - Protrack just drafts them out - how simple is that?

"Dotting cows with a drafting mark or dot and someone standing with the handle for drafting going up and down is now a thing of the past.

Graeme said, "buying Protrack was some of the best bit of money we have spent.

"One night last autumn we got a phone call from Fonterra saying we had got a grade. At first we lay awake worrying - how are we going to find that cow?

"We knew it must be one of our inhibitory dry off cows. Sure enough she had got back into the milking herd by pushing through 3 fences a swamp and a patch of bush. Although we had put red paint on all dry therapy cows, the recent heavy rain washed it off and we missed her in the shed.

"We decided to put the whole milking herd through the shed before milking and put into Protrack that all dry therapy cows were to get drafted. Out she popped.

"Without Protrack it would have been a nightmare to find her, and it would have probably taken us a whole day, instead it took just a few minutes and we were left smiling and with a huge saving.

"Protrack is phenomenal. It has proven to be so much more than we expected or could have hoped for."

Farm facts

Owners: Carol and Graeme Cotton.

Lower Order Sharemilkers: Stephen and Marion Bowers.

Location: Mangapai, south-west of Whangarei.

Area 200 ha plus 80 ha run-off.

Milking herd currently of 530 predominantly Friesian.

Split calving (since 2000) cow numbers: 200-260 winter

250-270 spring

Cowshed: 38 aside herringbone

Developments: Feed-pad built in 2003 and modified in 2008.

Protrack automated drafting system installed in June 2007.