Bauer 655 separator pump and MEX mixer, collection tank and solids bunker (with Agribuild)

The sweeping downland of Salisbury plain outside the village of Shrewton is host to Middle Farm, where the Johnson family have been dairy farming since 1986.

Although still a medium size dairy operation, Middle Farm’s herd has grown progressively over the years and today 140 cows are being milked. Like all dairy farmers, the Johnsons have faced the challenge of slurry disposal, turning what could have been be a problem into a benefit. Tom Johnson takes up the story:

“We needed to increase our capacity for slurry handling and create a situation where we could more easily use the end products on our own 350 acres of farmland. Most ofthe land is either used for grazing or growing feed, so producing our own fertilizer contributes positively to the economics.

“Luckily our decision to tackle the job coincided with two things: eligibility for grant aid and a chance meeting with T H WHITE’s slurry specialist Bob Gallop at an agricultural show. We hadn’t worked with T H WHITE before but we instantly warmed to Bob – he really knows his subject and he was able to help us towards the right solutions.”

As well as specifying the necessary hardware, Bob introduced the Johnsons to Agribuild who participated in the tender for the groundworks and building elements of the project.

The tenders from T H WHITE and Agribuild were competitive and work on the new slurry installation was completed in April 2019. A new collection tank and solids bunker was constructed and fitted with a Bauer 655 separator pump and a MEX mixer, also from Bauer. These ensure that the nutrients are dispersed evenly and the separator divides the solids and liquid elements.

“The liquid has a high nitrogen content,” says Tom, “so we can apply that to the land with a dribble bar. The dry solid residue is now much easier to handle too and is also high in nitrogen, but it’s slow release nitrogen which makes it very useful on the fields.

“After less than a year we have already cut our fertiliser bill by a third as a result of recycling the farm’s slurry in this way – strong proof, it were needed, that we made the right choices!”

Four DeLaval VMS Classic voluntary milking units, Herd Navigator, DeLaval OptiDuo, robotic scrapers, 20,000-litre silo.

Martin Hann has followed in family footsteps as a lifelong dairy farmer. His father moved to Rodden Down Farm outside Frome in the 1960s, and now Martin, his wife Susie and their son Ryan have embraced robotic milking technology as part of a major upgrade for the future.

The new installation, which has been in use since April 2019, is truly impressive, featuring an expansive new shed, four DeLaval Voluntary Milking System (VMS) milking stations supported by DeLaval Herd Navigator software, a 20,000 litre feed silo, a pair of DeLaval OptiDuo auto feeders and robotic scrapers.

The Hanns have recently increased the number of cows being milked to just under 200 and there are plans to expand further to around 240. Based on a nominal figure of 60 cows for each VMS station, the new shed is set out in four sections, each with its own milking station.

Before the upgrade Martin and Susie milked in a tandem parlour: “I always thought that was a good system and if I had to go back to more traditional milking I would probably choose a tandem again,” he says, “but VMS technology has always attracted me. At first I wondered whether it would be suitable at Rodden Down as our cows spend time inside but are also free to graze on the surrounding pastures in the summer. Systems have moved on a lot in the last 15 years and we have put in automated pasture gates which allow the cows to come in and out as they wish; experience so far shows that they always return for milking.

“Now each cow is being milked on average 2.6 times a day instead of twice, with a consequent rise in yield. As you would expect, it has also made our lives a lot easier, giving us more time to attend to other aspects of the farm, but the real boon for us has been DeLaval’s Herd Navigator.”

This remarkable herd management system analyses milk samples to give detailed health and fertility profiles for each cow. It consistently predicts heats in the herd with a high degree of accuracy enabling accurate insemination. It will also detect clinical and sub-clinical mastitis up to three or four days before clinical signs are visible in the animals affected, as well as other health issues.

“Accurate identification of fertility has been a huge plus for us as it has meant we can keep the number of milking cows level throughout the year,” adds Martin.

An intriguing item among the farm’s new equipment is one of the first DeLaval OptiDuo robotic feed pushers in the UK. This battery powered unit follows a guidance cable buried in the concrete surface, using a twin-spiral rotating auger to remix feed and push it closer to the feeding rail without damaging or crushing the roughage. It can be programmed to workaround the clock, meaning that cows have access to feed 24 hours a day. This allows heifers and lower ranked cows the same opportunity to feed, with less stress and competition from dominant cows.

With robotic scrapers added to the other new kit, Rodden Down Farm is well placed to compete effectively in the constantly evolving dairy industry.

T H WHITE Head of Dairy NIGEL ELLIS, reflects on developments in dairying, profiling some of the installations carried out in 2019 and introducing key members of the T H WHITE Dairy team…

In the two years since Nigel Ellis took over as Head of T H WHITE Dairy the milk price in the UK has remained volatile. Nevertheless, dairy farmers have continued to invest strongly in their businesses and Nigel is determined to offer customers the best service in the market.

“There are many dealers out there competing to sell equipment and parlour installations, but at T H WHITE we believe that farmers need far more than that from their supplier,” says Nigel. “Our whole approach is based on long-term relationships, working with the farmer from the outset to ensure that what he is purchasing is right for the demands of his business, designing the installation to operate in the most efficient way, coordinating the build and installation and then making sure everything works as planned.

“Beyond that we will deliver servicing regimes appropriate to the equipment to keep everything running smoothly, and if something does go wrong we are on call 24/7 to get your dairy back in action as fast as possible.”

To sustain this promise T H WHITE has not only increased the numbers working in the dairy service department but has been instrumental in designing training packages to bridge the skills gap in the Dairy sector and entice newcomers to its sophisticated technology (more about this next month). Investment has also been made in the latest DeLaval VPR 200 diagnostic system which enables the technician to scan all the components of a dairy installation and instantly review which are functioning at their best and which may require servicing or other attention.

T H WHITE’s DeLaval dairy territory has recently been expanded with the award of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

“Our Dairy Van service is an added benefit too, maintaining regular contact with our Dairy customers and keeping them supplied with consumables and new products that can help their businesses.”

Nigel’s view of the road ahead is clear: “The key to the future success of the dairy industry undoubtedly lies in new technology. Milk prices are unlikely to rise sharply and labour is increasingly harder to secure, so the best way to survive and expand is through efficiency, volume and automation. 

“Some of the best solutions today are available from our dairy partner DeLaval. You will read in this special Dairy edition of White’s World how traditional twice-a-day milking can be increased to three milkings through the use of robotic milking stations. At the same time monitoring and analysis systems such as Herd Navigator can make a remarkable difference in the control of mastitis or the detection of fertility. All the data collected from each cow can also be processed by the DeLaval DelPro application and presented as accurate and clear information leading to better health in the herd and helping farmers to make informed decisions for greater profitability.

“For larger dairy farms we have seen the development of refined rotary milking systems. The DeLaval E100 and E300 rotary models show the way with their ability to handle large herds at each milking, all in speed and comfort for the animals.”

Augmenting the technology coming from DeLaval, T H WHITE also offers the unique AirWash Plus automatic dip and rinse system – the only one compatible with any cluster and any liner.

“It all adds up to a proposition that enable us to fulfil our purpose of helping customers to get the best from innovation and technology for generations,” Nigel concludes.

We hope that you will find much of interest in the Dairy pages of this special issue. If you would like to know more about any of the technologies and solutions featured here, our dairy specialists are ready to help. Just call the Dairy team on 01373 465941 (Frome), or 01452 830303 (Huntley).

If you prefer, you can contact Nigel on 07860 247367 or email nigel.ellis@thwhite.co.uk.

20×40 DeLaval 50 degree milking parlour, AirWash Plus

We last visited Whitchurch Farm near Ston Easton in February 2018 when brothers Tom and Jonathan Osborne were working with the T H WHITE Dairy team to finalise plans for a new milking parlour.

Now, bar a few minor details, the work is complete – and what a difference!  Alongside the cow shed that the brothers built in 2003 now stands a large and impressive new shed, one half of which houses the new DeLaval 20/40 50 degree herringbone parlour, while the other half accommodates calf pens.

The dairy is light and spacious – in complete contrast to the old installation which dated from 1976. “It has cut at least an hour off milking times,” says Tom, “which has made a huge difference to the way we can manage our time for other tasks.”

The large new shed housing the parlour.

The construction team moved on-site in August 2018 and the new parlour was brought into use in April 2019. The Osbornes decided to stick with a herringbone parlour as it is best suited to the farm’s needs.

“We are milking just over 200 cows and the throughput with the new parlour is great,” says Tom. “We did briefly consider a robotic milking system but we have 120 acres of grazing land and our cows spend a lot of time outdoors, so we didn’t feel VMS would have worked for us. Going for a herringbone parlour also meant that the cows were familiar with the system and apart from one or two stragglers they took to it straight away. Within a few milkings they were literally running in!”

The new parlour is more spacious for the cows and is also fitted with the AirWash Plus automatic dip and rinse system which saves a lot of time and maintains top hygiene standards. “Although we have always had a healthy herd and low veterinary bills, our bactoscan and cell counts are now even better,” Tom adds.

All-in-all a job well done which has assured milking standards at Whitchurch Farm for years to come.

20,000-litre silo, Compact Glycol Water Chiller (CWC) and Heat Recovery Unit (HRU)

Over the years, the economics of milk production have encouraged the formation of larger herds with higher yields. So it was that David Cotton, whose dairy farm is at West Bradley near Glastonbury, was faced with the need to upgrade the milk cooling and storage part of his business.

23 years ago, when it was installed, David’s 9,000 litre milk tank was ample for the farm’s output, but now that he is milking 250 cows and producing 8,000 litres per day he found himself right on the limit of capacity and relying on daily collections.

“I knew we needed more capacity but my decision on the best solution coincided with an incentive from our milk buyer Arla, based around giving them more flexibility on milk collection times. That meant we would have to be able to store at least two days’ output in tightly controlled conditions,” David explains.

The solution, put together with assistance from T H White Dairy engineers, comprised a DeLaval 20,000 litre cooling tank, a compact water chiller (CWC), plate cooler and heat recovery unit. Unlike conventional cooling units, the CWC uses glycol which can be cooled more rapidly than water without freezing, at the same time consuming less energy. Milk from the line is first filtered and then fed to a plate cooler style of heat exchanger where the chilled glycol is used to pre-cool the milk. The milk then flows to the 20,000 litre tank where the milk is maintained in perfect condition at 4deg C. In such large tanks there’s a need to protect the quality of the first litres of milk that enter the empty tank, so the evaporators in this silo tank feature a unique lateral configuration that ensures milk quickly covers an entire evaporator plate for efficient heat transfer. Gentle internal mixing also ensures consistency of temperature throughout the tank.

At the same time the DeLaval heat recovery unit is able to recover up to 60 per cent of the heat extracted during the milk cooling process which then produces hot water for use in pipeline and parlour cleaning.

“It’s a perfect solution,” David enthuses. “In general we now have a milk collection every other day, but we have the flexibility to deviate from that if necessary – it has boosted our returns and it suits Arla, so good all round.

“Although we had been using it for 23 years, the old milk tank was still in excellent condition so we have retained that, giving us a total capacity of 29,000 litres of temperature-controlled milk. If the collection tanker happens to arrive during milking we can also divert the milk into the original tank while the new one is being emptied.

“The whole system was installed very neatly by a single T H WHITE engineer who made a beautiful job of it. We are impressed!”

DeLaval 32×32 Fast Exit with feeding, AirWash Plus and backing gate.

“It’s such a great place to work!” So said Matt Kingston, standing in the vast new purpose-built shed which houses the family farm’s new DeLaval 32×32 fast exit milking parlour at Tresham, near Wotton-under-Edge.

“The old parlour dated back to 1972 and despite having been updated to a DeLaval herringbone installation in 1994, it was a dark, cramped place to work. It got very hot in there which wasn’t so bad in winter but was a nightmare in the summer,” he said. “To be fair, the building wasn’t really large enough for the parlour which resulted in it being very cramped for the cows – they would sometimes step backwards in the milking stall, miss their footing and put a hind leg down onto the equipment. That was distressing for the animals and could often cause damage to the parlour – you had to really watch what was happening.

“It got to the point where I would come in after morning milking, slump into a chair and ask myself if I really wanted to be doing this.”

By 2016 the Kingstons decided to address these issues head-on, not only with a new parlour, but also a spacious new shed to house it. With a 105ft roof span the new shed took the best part of two years to plan and build. “It was certainly tricky getting the huge steel components on-site,” Matt recalls. “They were far too long to be brought through the village on a vehicle so they had to come across the fields on a trailer. Even then they had to be raised to clear obstacles each side!”

At Tresham Farm they are currently milking 250 cows, but there is the possibility of increasing the herd to 300 in the near future, or even 400 in the longer term. “We considered all the options for the new parlour. We didn’t think robotic milking would be the best solution for our size of operation, but we did consider rotary. Of course, that’s another step up in cost and with a rotary  there is less opportunity to monitor each cow – once you have attached the cluster she has gone, whereas in a traditional parlour you have a little longer with each animal when you can tell if something is not quite right.” 

Following discussions with Matt, T H WHITE’s Dairy team designed the new parlour and work began on the installation in the new shed in late 2018. Tresham Farm’s contract for milk supply to Sainsburys has always meant that efficient milking and immaculate hygiene standards are at the top of the list and the new parlour incorporates feeding, a backing gate, an auto-sort gate and – importantly – AirWash Plus. “I wouldn’t be without that now,” says Matt. “It keeps mastitis closely under control and, together with the new automatic foot bath, helps to ensure that everything is clean and healthy.

When we made a follow-up visit to Tresham in December, the new parlour had been in use for just over 10 months and everything was as scrupulously clean as the day it was commissioned. It’s no wonder that Sainsburys have held meetings there for their producers; it’s a real credit to the Kingston family who are playing an active part in keeping British milk production standards at an exemplary high level.

GEORGE ENO Capital Plant Sales Specialist. Living the ‘good life’

George specialises in conventional milking systems. He joined T H WHITE 23 years ago as a Dairy Service Engineer, moving into sales in 2009. He loves getting to the bottom of what a farmer is aiming to achieve with a new installation, be that higher throughput, milk yield recording, animal identification, group or individual cow monitoring, and he then recommends equipment accordingly. He has found that whilst automation is a fast growing segment, there is still always a place for a simple systems that can be served by DeLaval’s robust, reliable equipment.

“DeLaval kit is probably the toughest and most reliable in the market,” he says. “It’s a company that invests heavily in R&D, listening to customer concerns and responding with solutions that meet those challenges, such as the stable harmony cluster designed to maximise milking speeds with low cyclical vacuum fluctuations.”

George knows that farmers get bombarded by salesmen, but coming from an agricultural background in which he worked in herd management for 15 years gives him the edge. “They appreciate that I know what I’m talking about, but they listen most to what other farmers say, so I often arrange visits to nearby farms where they can see DeLaval equipment, DelPro and various other milking technologies in operation.”

As a service engineer, George has witnessed how trust grows with farmers when they experience T H WHITE after-sales and service, knowing we will support problems for the life of the equipment supplied.

One of George’s proudest moments was a speedy parlour move for Bevan Lewis Baker, in Kemsey Commander, Monmouthshire. Weeks of careful planning enabled George and the team to lengthenthe parlour and move the existing equipment to a new site, all in one day.

Out of hours George is a bit of a green energy geek  – windmills , wind turbines, solar panels, ground source heat pumps are his passion, not to mention his productive vegetable garden, allotment and the three sheep he keeps. A true case of living the self-sufficient ‘good life’!

MIKE HOWES After Sales & Project Manager.   Retired Rugby player

Mike works closely with the sales team to scope the concept, materials, design oversight, cost control, staffing, welfare, and management of subcontractors and third parties for each project.

Mike joined T H WHITE in 1977 on an apprenticeship programme, achieving a HND in Agricultural Engineering. That choice was quite random – arriving late to a careers advice meeting at school he was made to draw a career path card.  It read Agricultural Engineer – so he thought why not, and followed it!

Mike completed extensive supplier equipment training and his experience gained him a promotion to Service Manager in 1994.  He left T H WHITE on several occasions – the first time in 1984 to work for the British Antarctic Survey for several years, followed by a spell in Saudi Arabia on a project creating the world’s largest pivot irrigated farm. In 2000 he was appointed Technical Services Manager of a 400-acre Center Parcs estate but returned to T H WHITE in 2011.

Dairy technology is now moving ahead faster than ever which means Mike and his team have to be (and are) adaptive, fast-paced and responsive. “Many of us have worked together for a long time – there’s a good vibe in a tight ship! We live our customers’ pressures and help each other, recognising our scarce skill set in this sector,” says Mike. “DeLaval is the world VMS market leader and I’m proud to represent the brand..”

Mike is a retired rugby player, but it’s a passion he has passed to his daughter and he now enjoys the excitement of watching her play.

ANDREW WELCH Service Coordinator   Mountain biker

Andrew is our Service Manager at Frome, also supporting our Huntley branch. Brought up on his grandparents’ Dairy farm at Twinhoe near Bath, milking is in Andrew’s DNA. He still remembers drinking from the churn when little and doing the Sunday milk round.

Andrew worked as a farm labourer in his teens and joined T H WHITE in 1975 on the engineer’s programme, becoming a fully qualified agricultural engineer.

After a brief interlude in the family business Andrew returned to T H WHITE amid the 1980s recession, calling customers to seek orders for on-site repairs and upgrades in the Cheddar area. . Relocating to Frome in 2000, Andrew joined the Dairy team.

Today, he and his engineers service our own DeLaval equipment and other brands in a large south west territory spanning Somerset to Hampshire, South Wales, as far north as Herefordshire and east to Berkshire.

Andrew is the primary customer contact point for breakdown and he liaises with engineers to determine the best skill set to tackle a problem.  He also deals with all refrigeration service contracts and bulk milk tank maintenance. When livestock are involved, there is often no time to spare.  Although it can be a challenge to take calls in the middle of the night, work out what’s wrong and pick the right skill to solve the fault, Andrew enjoys the satisfaction of having helped many customers to achieve a positive outcome.

When not at work Andrew can be found restoring retro equipment and organising Frome Mountain Bike Group rides.

BOB GALLOP Slurry Specialist   Avid gardener

Working at the mucky end of agriculture as T H WHITE’s Slurry Specialist may not be everyone’s idea of a dream job, but it’s a very necessary part of the cycle that delivers real benefits. 

Bob has been with T H WHITE for 45 years, joining as a mechanic and working his way up the tree over the ensuing 13 years to become Workshop Foreman. In 1989 he left for a two year spell at a Deutz tractor and RABI equipment dealership in Westbury, before embarking on a wonderful adventure running a Ford tractor dealership workshop in Tanzania. Exciting as that was, it played havoc with family life so he returned to T H WHITE in Frome as an Area Sales Representative. In 2013 the company decided to appoint a Slurry Specialist and Bob got the job. 

T H WHITE is a dealer for a select group of slurry equipment suppliers – Bauer for all fixed equipment, Hi Spec for tankers, Tramspread for umbilical equipment, Storth for auto scrapers and mixers and Vogelsang for applicators. Being able to represent them in this small sector of the vast agricultural industry means that Bob can offer a comprehensive and professional service. 

Away from the muck Bob enjoys delving in another kind of mud – as an avid gardener!

PAUL DERRICK Capital Plant Sales Specialist   Skittles supremo

Paul is proud of the fact that any dairy or refrigeration equipment that’s bolted or fixed to a wall, ceiling or framework,  is something he sells! Since May last year he has been project managing his own sales, directing our workshop engineers through Andrew Welch and Chris Newey, ordering capital goods, parts and ancillary equipment, and overseeing completion of projects to the to a clients’ specifications. Every day brings a new challenge and new problems to solve, which he relishes.

But Paul’s enthusiasm for farming goes way back – to the 1970s in fact when his father was friends with a local farmer who allowed Paul to spend weekends and holidays helping on the farm.  He enjoyed the environment and applied to our tractor workshop, joining in 1977 as a junior engineer. Advancing to being a qualified technician, Paul took advantage of every opportunity to learn the ins and outs of New Holland, Kuhn, Opico, Manitou and more…

After 19 years he took up a fresh challenge in Dairy van sales, visiting half a dozen farmers a day with supplies and talking about all-important upgrades and refurbishments.  Our van operatives are great brand ambassadors for T H WHITE are instrumental in building rapport and trust among our customers.

Paul was excited by the way technological improvements were freeing-up farm labour, allowing a stronger focus on the husbandry side of animal welfare. He later took the role of workshop foreman before moving to Dairy capital sales in 2001, supplying  both robotic VMS solutions and conventional systems.

When not working Paul is an accomplished skittle player for three different teams, captain of two and a few league championships under his belt.

GARY GRANT Capital Plant Sales Specialist

Gary grew up around farms and began his career by milking cows working for farm contractors before joining T H WHITE as a Dairy Engineer in 1995.  

After a brief spell away, he returned in 2005 and by 2011 he had worked his way up into Dairy sales where he now specialises in conventional herringbone and rotary parlour systems. Where a customer is interested in robotic milking Gary will rise to the challenge too, as seen in the installation recently completed for Hann Farming (see page 4), calling as necessary upon the expertise of our VMS specialists to take the conversations forward. That’s part of the benefit of working in a large and experienced team.

Gary is a big fan of Herd Navigator, DeLaval’s proactive herd management tool which identifies when a cow is in heat and how much feed is needed at differing stages of lactation, making cow health and reproduction a seamless process.  

DeLaval’s DelPro integrated farm management platform has also been a game changer for Gary’s customers.  Monitoring the herd’s well-being 24-hours a day, it brings all that data together allowing herdsmen to make decisions related to performance, feeding, health, milking and reproduction in one tidy application that can now be remotely accessed from anywhere with DelPro Companion. Gary appreciates the freedom and outdoor lifestyle of his farming career and the customer relationships he has built.

ROB WHEELER Draughtsman   Scooter rooter

Rob is the Dairy team draughtsman. He will often have three large builds on the drawing board, ranging in value from a few thousand pounds to more than a million. He loves starting with a concept and developing it into a fully operational solution – schemes can range from cow moving and handling systems, to a parlour design or a green field site.

For many of these projects T H WHITE will be acting as principal contractor, so as well as building work and planning submissions, every detail has to be accommodated right down to cladding and wi-fi points.

Having grown up on a dairy farm, Rob joined T H WHITE in the 1970s as an apprentice at Devizes, taking only a brief break to work in his family’s catering equipment business. Here he trained in CAD design, a step which enabled him to return to T H WHITE in 2008 as the dairy designer. Has undergone extensive training on DeLaval parlours, IOSSH and more CAD design development.

Rob has seen enormous changes in equipment based around computerisation and was closely involved in the design of the complex quadruple VMS milking installation for Hann Farming near Frome (see page 4).

In his spare time Rob renovates and rides vintage scooters and rallies them at his local club in Radstock.

CHRIS NEWEY Capital Plant Sales & VMS Specialist   Fisherman

Chris Newey is our VMS Specialist, also responsible for capital plant sales and Frome service co-ordination. He joined T H WHITE in 2017 following a career in mechanical engineering with Dairy dealers.

From the first time he saw robotic milking in action Chris was excited about the possibilities of the technology and has since made it a speciality. He is particularly pleased with the result  of having moved Hugh Miles from a conventional to robotic milking system (see page 5) – in fact Chris has never seen someone so happy: “I think he was elated due to all the extra sleep,” he says!

Chris’ mornings are usually spent organising our engineers’ schedules, getting parts ready and arranging service visits for the team. Dairy equipment is serviced annually as a minimum, but robotic units – which are at work 24/7 – require a service three times a year, so Chris pro-actively schedules client appointments, allocates an engineer and briefs them.

Later in the day he will return to capital plant sales, responding to enquiries for new installations or upgrades. This often involves a site visit to survey requirements, develop designs and cow traffic plans, followed by conversations with DeLaval to refine proposals.  Chris is always looking to achieve best value and longevity for the customer from each solution he presents.  He ensures he discusses future plans – does the client want to focus on technology or not? Do they want to grow their herd? Price variations between conventional and robotic equipment are minimal, but expansion is key and conventional solutions can be expanded easily without large investment – but create more labour challenges and longer working hours for the farmer. Robotic equipment, on the other hand, comes with more back-end technology to maintain, but frees-up labour to create a more flexible working day with focus on cow welfare. So the two paths level out depending on customer needs.

Chris rates the reliability of DeLaval equipment highly, and with proactive service planning the need for breakdown support is minimised, but 

T H WHITE is always on call with highly trained engineers.

When not at work Chris is rather proud of the fact that he can be found fishing, shooting – or sleeping!

Two DeLaval V300 voluntary milking units

A few miles south-west of Martin Hann’s farm, family relation Hugh Miles at Witham Hall Farm has also moved from a tandem parlour to robotic milking.

With 120 cows to milk Hugh opted for two of the latest DeLaval V300 Voluntary Milking System units which feature an incredible range of new technologies. A completely redesigned milking arm – which in many ways replicates actions of the human arm – incorporates DeLaval InSight, a new and unique camera system. It learns and adapts to each individual udder, memorising the settings, eliminating the need for teat mapping and resulting in astonishing attachment rates of 99.8 per cent. The upshot is relaxed cows and efficient milking.

“We started to think about robotic milking because of the difficulty with labour,” says Hugh. “The V300 units essentially replace one worker, but the challenge was more about the issue of finding people prepared to do the work these days.”

The cows have adapted well to the new regime, forming an orderly queue for the DeLaval V300!

Hugh runs the farm with his daughter Clare and wife Hilary, and is grateful for the easier working patterns that the VMS has created. “Clare and I share shifts and because we no longer have to carry out the milking it means we can spend more time on all the other tasks around the farm. It has also given us more sociable working hours and I can monitor the whole thing from my mobile phone wherever I am. The system will even send me an alert if a cow has failed to leave the milking stall.”

More than just taking care of the physical activity of milking, the V300 captures vast amounts of data at every milking, from every cow – even from each teat. This data is all processed, analysed and delivered back in the form of simple visual reports. With a separate milk meter for each teat, the vacuum, pulsation and take-off are adjusted automatically, resulting in superior udder health. 

The cows at Witham Hall Farm underline the success of the system; they are relaxed and calm awaiting their turn for milking, actually forming an orderly queue for the V300! Calmer cows are usually healthier cows with better longevity, productivity, reproduction and yield.

Although ‘rule of thumb’ suggests that one VMS unit is needed for every 60 cows, Hugh believes that is under-estimating their capability. “Our yields have already increased since we moved to VMS and theoretically we should be at capacity milking 120 cows with two machines. But, looking at the milking patterns it’s clear that each V300 could handle more – maybe even up to 70 cows.”

Hugh’s V300s have been at work since September last year. In March, when they have been in operation for six months, he plans to augment the system with DeLaval’s Herd Navigator. “That will give us more control over fertility and will also reduce vet’s bills, proving the worth of our investment.”

FAN 1.2-780 separator pump, Bauer mixer

Dairy farming is a business that requires acumen and foresight to achieve the optimum balance between production, environmental impact and profitability. At Park Farm, Beaulieu, Arthur Rolf has been applying these skills while also moving the farm towards greater self-sufficiency.

One of the areas he has addressed recently is slurry handling: “All dairy farmers have to decide how best to deal with large quantities of slurry. We knew we wanted to make it work for us and we also wanted to maintain good environmental standards. 

“We were vacuum-tanking our slurry onto maize ground, but we knew that separating the solids and liquids would make it easier to handle, improve environmental control and result in products that had a value to us. That was when I called Bob Gallop at T H WHITE.

“Bob really knows his stuff and is always prepared to get stuck into a challenge, so when he recommended a Bauer mixer and a FAN separator pump we were receptive.”

As the installation was to be partly grant-funded Arthur obtained three quotes and he was pleased when the one from T H WHITE was the most competitive. “At Beaulieu we are some way outside 

T H WHITE’s usual territory,” Arthur explained, “but there are no slurry equipment suppliers particularly near us, so whichever company we chose would be some distance away. Being able to go with 

T H WHITE and have someone as knowledgeable as Bob on the end the phone gave us a lot of confidence for those inevitable occasions when we need to solve a problem.”

With the tender accepted the installation was carried out. A Bauer mixer now ensures the slurry is evenly distributed before passing through the FAN 1.2-780, mounted on steel staging. Founded in 1986, FAN Separator GmbH – now part of the Bauer Group – developed the first press screw separators, including the patented full floating screen technology employed in all FAN and Bauer PSS separators.

“In the late 1970s we were milking 540 cows, but following the introduction of milk quotas and a change of approach that figure has dropped to 340 today, says Arthur. “Now, instead of going for high yields of around 12,000 litres per cow, we aim for an average yield of 7,400 litres and we try to keep our cows outside for 270 days a year. Remarkably that is actually a more profitable model – the cows are happy and the amount of slurry to be dealt with is reduced.

“Not only does the FAN separator feature high quality stainless steel internal components for long life, but the fact that there is no need for the separator to be used in the summer months when the cows are outside, makes me think that if I clean it thoroughly every year it will outlast me!”

The FAN separator delivers dry matter to a bunker and the liquid element to a holding tank. “Following separation, the dry material is worth about £5 a ton to us as farmyard manure, while the nitrogen-rich fluid is worth £54 per cubic metre. The new set-up means we are now around 70% self-sufficient in fertilizer for grass, maize and haylage.”

Arthur believes that the dairy industry must now face up to pressing environmental challenges: “Methane is clearly a big problem and the media are very quick to spotlight issues mainly being raised by the vegan community about methane from dairy cows. However,  it’s important to keep this in perspective; while dairy farmers can certainly play their part in the control of methane, many other sectors– including the chemical industry – are contributing to the problem. Large volumes of methane are also being released as the icecaps melt and as a result of fracking. We need a universal strategy to address this, rather than singling out the dairy industry.

“Another challenge partly answered by slurry separation is that of urea. We return the separated liquid to the land using a dribble bar injector which reduces the release of urea to the atmosphere by over 60%. Even though we are not in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ), we have had so much rain this year that much of the ground is waterlogged, meaning we can’t inject at the moment. To prevent this becoming a problem in the future the next development on the farm could be a 4 million litre holding tank –sufficient to store three months’ output.”

     It’s great to meet a farmer like Arthur Rolf who not only has a positive vision of dairying, but is constantly considering new ways to balance his business with the changing world around him.

T H WHITE is a main dealer for DeLaval and we would like our customers to benefit from all the guidance and support DeLaval offers end users of DeLaval products.

DeLaval publishes a monthly digital newsletter which shares useful articles relating to herd management, product tips, customer case studies, events, offers and more. To receive the publication please sign up by visiting www.delaval.com where you can subscribe to their newsletter at the base of the page.

T H WHITE put on a strong showing at the 2018 Dairy Show in October for both Case IH and New Holland, together with the wide variety of equipment brands offered by our Agriculture and Dairy divisions.

A real eye-catcher on Avenue B at the Bath & West Showground was the gleaming line of red Case IH tractors, ranging from the compact Farmall to a mighty 200hp Puma. Impressive stuff, with a tractor to meet every need, but for many farmers the stand-out tractor was the Case IH Maxxum 145 with ActiveDrive 8 transmission. This new semi-powershift transmission offers eight powershift steps in each of three ranges, providing a total of 24 speeds in both forward and reverse, and is available on all Maxxum Multicontroller models.

Covering speeds up to 10.2 km/h, Range One is specifically designed for heavier draft work. Range Two, the main working range, covers nearly 90 per cent of all field, grassland and loader application requirements, allowing the tractor to work under full load, without any torque disruption, from 1.6-18.1 km/h.

For road travel, the transmission is designed to start in Range Three, and a skip-shift function then allows quick progress through the powershift speeds. An auto-shift feature means the tractor can be set to progress automatically through any set of eight speeds in the field, and through all 16 gears in the top two ranges on the road. A pedal kick-down function can be used to impose a manual downshift.

A clutch pedal is not required, meaning this transmission is suited to power-hungry tasks where momentum is important, such as cultivations or mowing with twin or triple mowers.

To try a Case IH tractor for yourself, just call Rob Iddeson on 01264 811260.

The latest-generation rotary milking system from DeLaval, the E100, is not just a rotary, but a full system with more information, more automation, more functions and more technology than ever before. Above all, it has been designed so that one person can operate everything safely, comfortably and easily, from a central point.

Building on years of experience with rotary milking systems, DeLaval has designed the new E100 to create a better, safer, calmer and more productive experience for you, your cows and anyone who works on your farm.

Featuring easy entry and easy exit for cows, TopFlow clusters that can milk up to 15 litres per minute, plus DeLaval’s special design of comfort bail, the Rotary E100 is operated from a ‘cockpit’ where all aspects can be monitored and controlled via the DelPro platform and touch-screen.

Unique to the E100, the ComfortBail is fundamental to maintaining efficiency as well as a calm milking environment for the cow. All the necessary wires, pipes and technology are integrated within the bail, thus ensuring clearer lines of visibility for worker and cow, easier, safer access for the milker, and a more consistent approach to the task of getting cows on, milked and gone, quickly and without stress. The design also ensures that the cows present ready for milking in a position that makes attachment faster and simpler, while four individual teat spray nozzles provide accurate coverage seconds after cluster removal.

DeLaval’s FastLane entry bridge ensures that the cows move as quickly, calmly and efficiently as possible, enabling the operator to select either single cow entry or a one and a half cow entry lane to optimise the number of cows per hour of milking. The wide exit lane incorporates a funnel enabling multiple cows to exit the milking parlour, thus reducing the number of inactive milking points and increasing throughput without creating platform stoppages.

With herd sizes increasing, it all adds up to milking more cows more efficiently with fewer labour hours and less hassle.

T H WHITE can not only supply and install the new DeLaval E100 – plus a building and all associated works to house it in if required – but once it’s in production we can provide all the support and service you will need to maximise the profitability of your dairy operation.

Get all the facts by calling any of our Dairy branches, or talk to T H WHITE Dairy Manager Nigel Ellis on 01373 465941, email nigel.ellis@thwhite.co.uk.

Success in the challenging dairy farming sector relies increasingly on new technologies to maximise milk yield, herd health and profitability. The latest innovations from DeLaval, the pioneer and market leader in dairy automation, will now help farmers to achieve more than ever before.

Topping the list of DeLaval’s new introductions are the OptiDuo robotic feed pusher, the new V300 Voluntary Milking System (VMS), plus the latest software to help you manage and control your dairy business, even when you are on the move.

OptiDuo feed pusher
The first DeLaval OptiDuo in the UK has been supplied by T H WHITE and commissioned at Oldbury Farm near Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire, where David Merrett has a herd of 125 cows.

The OptiDuo is a new robotic feed pusher with a twin-spiralled rotating auger which allows feed to be remixed and repositioned without damaging or crushing the roughage and then pushes it closer to the feeding rail, giving the cows constant access to the refreshed feed.

Following a guidance cable buried in the yard surface, the OptiDuo can be programmed to work around the clock, meaning that cows have access to feed 24 hours a day. This allows heifers and lower ranked cows the same opportunity to feed, with less stress and competition from dominant cows in the herd, which in turn leads to higher intakes and more milk in the tank. Different settings can be made for different groups, for example lactating cow feed or youngstock feed.

DeLaval calculates that with the OptiDuo feed intake can be increased by up to 10 per cent with less wastage, providing the cows with a well-mixed diet to help to ensure maximum dry matter intake and minimise feed sorting. The cows can then spend more time resting and ruminating.

V300 VMS
When the DeLaval Voluntary Milking System (VMS) first appeared 20 years ago it revolutionised the way in which dairy farmers could manage their business. Allowing cows to be milked as and when they want, at the same time monitoring the milking cycle for each animal, its health and the yield, meant that very close herd control could be exercised, at the same time freeing the farmer and his employees from the rigours of set milking times to enjoy more normal working hours and a better family life.

Since then DeLaval has continually developed, modified and improved its VMS, adding the OCC cell counting system, Herd Navigator software and a new model in 2015 including the Body Condition Scoring (BCS) camera.

Now we have the new DeLaval VMS V300 incorporating a host of improvements that will enable farmers to do more with less. At the heart of the system is the milking arm – which in many ways replicates actions of the human arm. New software and the highest ever quality camera assess the best and most accurate way to attach the teat cups. The system learns and adapts to each individual udder, memorising the settings and resulting in attachment rates of 99.8 per cent, taking away the need to teach the machine manually with the entry of each new cow.

Attachment of teat cups is 50 per cent faster than the previous model, milking capacity is up by 10 per cent to a potential 3,500kg of milk a day, yet running costs are lower. The integrated DeLaval InSight system is able to find the teat fast and accurately, giving the cow a stress-free and relaxed experience.

A major advance is in teat spraying. The V300 is fitted with the DeLaval PureFlow system which cleans each teat individually with a 99 per cent teat spray hit rate. Increased stimulation from the PureFlow system also results in a 15 per cent higher milk flow. A new user interface – the DeLaval InControl mobile app – allows for remote control of the system as well as access to information.

Stay in control on the move
Alongside the V300, DeLaval has launched a new edition of its DelPro integrated farm management software, together with an associated app, DelPro Companion. Working in unison, these monitor your herd’s well-being 24-hours a day, bringing together the data needed to make decisions relating to performance, feeding, health, milking and reproduction. Being able to view all this in one tidy application for a mobile device allows you to maintain complete control of your farm and your herd from literally anywhere in the world.

Key benefits of the DelPro platform include:
Animal Welfare: DelPro has the ability to identify an animal becoming ill at an early stage so you can prevent her and other cows in the herd from becoming really sick.
Food Safety: You have full control over your cows feed ration throughout the different states of lactation. With DelPro you can set a controlled strategy for each cow and implement it for differing days in milk, production level, or lactation number.  The system can also divert milk automatically in a given milking cycle.
Profitability: A closer focus on animal health drives productivity. DelPro helps to align efficient feeding with reproduction goals and expected yields. Each cow is treated as an individual with a focus on milking permission to help her meet her potential.
Work efficiency: DelPro manages work flows to ensure efficient performance.  It allows you to analyse milk production and reproduction data to explore the effect on monthly production levels through these changes. The interface is easy to navigate with comprehensive downloadable reports.

DelPro Companion is available to download from Google Play or Apple’s App Store.

T H WHITE Dairy Manager Nigel Ellis is ready to tell you more about all the exciting developments from DeLaval. Call him on 01373 465941, or email nigel.ellis@thwhite.co.uk.

Most of us tend to feel happier and more content during the long, sunny days of summer. In winter, the opposite is true; dark mornings, early dusk and grey days can lower your mood.  Well, the same is true for cows, but in a way that can directly affect their milk production. Most of us tend to feel happier and more content during the long, sunny days of summer. In winter, the opposite is true; dark mornings, early dusk and grey days can lower your mood.  Well, the same is true for cows, but in a way that can directly affect their milk production.

Dairy farmers have known for a long time that giving cows more light increases milk yield. Studies have shown that exposing cows to16 hours of light each day will cause the pineal gland to produce less melatonin, in turn leading to increased feed intake and milk production. The uplift can be between 5% and 16% (averaging 8%) so it’s an increase well worth having. Until recently, however, the energy cost of providing the extra lighting made the benefits questionable.

To see how things have changed we visited the Morgans’ farm near Llantwit Major in South Glamorgan where T H WHITE installed DeLaval cow LED lighting in December.

The Morgans’ farm is in a beautiful position on hills overlooking the Bristol Channel. During the summer months the cows graze on pastures which form part of the 300-acre mixed farm, but in winter it’s a different story: “The wind here howls straight off the Atlantic – there’s literally nothing between here and America to shelter us,” says David Morgan. “We house the cows in the winter to give them some protection but obviously we still want to get the best milk yields that we can. We had been thinking about using lighting for a while to increase yields and we started talking to T H WHITE in the autumn.”

To make the lighting effective you can’t just use any light. Cows see a different part of the visible spectrum from humans so it’s important not only to achieve the correct lux levels (brightness of illumination) but also the right colour temperature. Most LED lighting systems in use today were designed for factories – not the high ceilings of barns – and so use a lot of energy to achieve the right light levels for the cows. DeLaval, however, has taken an entirely new approach in designing its cow LED units.

Only in 2014 were efficient blue light-emitting diodes invented (awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics) and DeLaval has used these together with additional optical lenses to achieve an even ‘bat wing’ light spread. The really clever part is that the DeLaval units deliver light at three different levels – ‘Herd Light’ for the cows’ eyes, ‘Work Light’ for farmers’ eyes, and ‘Night Light’ for the 8-hour dark period when the cows rest but farmers still need to work safely. By ‘switching off’ the light that the cows can’t see and implementing automatic dimming as natural light levels increase, power consumption can be reduced by up to 75 per cent.

“When the DeLaval cow LEDs were installed the difference was almost immediate,” says David. “We are seeing an increase of around 3 litres per cow – that’s money well spent, I’d say!”

Contact our Dairy specialists on 01373 465941 (Frome, Somerset) or 01452 830303 (Huntley, Gloucestershire).

Anyone in the dairy business will tell you that recent years have not exactly been a bed of roses. Persistently low milk prices, cheap imports and uncertainty about the future have all made it difficult to plan for sustainability and development.

There are different schools of thought on the best way to meet these challenges. Some farmers, including quite a few new entrants to the dairy business, are developing large farms with up to 1,000 cows, seeing economy of scale as the answer to maintaining competitiveness in milk production. On many smaller farms however, where milking has been carried on through generations of the same family, the number of cows may have increased over the years but there simply isn’t the scope or the desire to take the large farm route. That doesn’t mean to say these farmers don’t see a bright future – it’s more about adopting the right approach and it’s encouraging to see significant investments being made for milk production on a smaller scale.

A case in point is Whitchurch Farm, Ston Easton, where the Osborne family has been engaged in dairy farming since 1947. Although only 11 miles from Bristol the farm could hardly be more rural, occupying a wonderful position on the Mendips, some of the buildings dating back to the mid-1600s. Today the farm is in the care of brothers Tom and Jonathan Osborne who took over from their father and grandfather. With 220 cows to milk they have just committed to a new, fully automated DeLaval 20/40 herringbone parlour from T H WHITE’s Dairy Department.

“Our old parlour certainly didn’t owe us anything,” says Tom who runs the dairy side of the business. “It was installed in 1976 so has given more than 40 years service, although we have updated it a couple of times with direct milk lines and milk meters. But it was becoming clear that it was approaching the end of its life, so rather than wait until we had a failure in, say, five years time, we decided to go for a new parlour.”
The decision was part of a plan to ‘future-proof’ the business. Both Tom and Jonathan have sons, but it’s too early for them to say whether they might eventually want to take over the dairy operation. To provide flexibility for the future Tom and Jonathan decided to locate the building to house the new parlour next to the substantial cow shed they built in 2003. This is a few hundred yards from the main farm complex, meaning that if necessary the dairy operation could become a self-contained unit if required.

When the cow shed was built extensive earthworks and ground levelling had to be carried out and much more of the same will be necessary for the new parlour, but it will be worth it says Tom: “The new 20/40 parlour will enable us to milk in around two hours, just right for our herd size. There are three key factors which can help make a smaller-scale dairy operation successful: herd size and health – which are inter-related – and guaranteed outlet for your milk. Experience shows us that our herd size is right and it enjoys good health with low veterinary bills. Our cows yield 7,200ltrs, with solids of 4.4 butter fat and 3.45 protein.

“That’s ideal as all our milk goes to Alvis Brothers in Bristol for high quality cheese production, which gives us an assured market.”
There is, however, another reason underpinning the viability of Whitchurch Farm – a high degree of self-sufficiency – with 120 acres of land providing grazing and forage. “Our grazing is white clover and we are also growing three-year red clover rye grass and crimped wheat,” says Jonathan, who manages the arable side of the business. “The only things we buy in are soya blend and cow cake.”

It was through the arable activities that the Osbornes first started doing business with T H WHITE, purchasing agricultural machinery from 1985 onwards, and then dairy service and maintenance from about 1990. “It’s a great relationship,” says Tom, “and one which looks set to continue with the new parlour!”

If you would like to talk to T H White about a dairy installation of any size, call Dairy manager Nigel Ellis on 01373 465941, or contact him by email at
nigel.ellis@thwhite.co.uk

Our new Dairy Department Manager Nigel Ellis will already be familiar to many of our customers.

He was assistant dairy manager from 2009 to 2011, having worked in the T H WHITE Dairy Division since 1993. After a brief period away, during which he became a district sales manager for DeLaval, he has returned to manage the department. In just over a month in the job he is already closely involved in the installation of a large, 50-point rotary milking parlour near Frome and is helping dairy farmers who are keen to move to the DeLaval voluntary Milking System (VMS).

Nigel is also keep to champion the benefits of the Delpro milking management system as well as strengthening the installation teams at Huntley and Frome and relaunching the electrical side of the dairy business. You can contact Nigel on 07860 247367 or email nigel.ellis@thwhite.co.uk

“The most important thing for anyone contemplating milking goats is to secure a contract with an established processing company.” So says Bryan Pugh who with his wife Anne, son Islwyn and daughter Elizabeth are part of the growing number of dairy farmers now milking smaller animals – in their case goats.

The Pugh’s farm occupies 240 acres of beautiful land in mid-Wales close to Builth Wells where they have been farming beef cattle and sheep all their working lives, and on the present farm since 1980. The arrival of Abergavenny Fine Foods – now a leading UK manufacturer of traditional goat cheeses – at nearby Blaenavon has acted as a catalyst for an increasing number of farmers in the area to start producing goats milk.

“Growing popularity of specialist goat cheeses has stimulated a market that didn’t really exist a few decades ago and having a top quality food manufacturing company almost on the doorstep changed the economics,” said Bryan. “We made the decision in 2015 to start milking goats and we knew that success would depend on getting the scale of the operation right.”

When it came to selecting and installing a milking parlour the Pughs wanted the capacity to cope with a growing herd. The first goats were raised from kids purchased in May 2015, which kidded a year later when milking commenced. The Pughs already had a small milking machine but had made plans for a larger, permanent parlour. “At the start we went to see another goat farmer, Gary Yeomans, who had recently had a DeLaval parlour installed by T H WHITE.

“We were particularly impressed by the fact that the DeLaval parlour was specifically designed to suit the behaviour of goats and sheep. Some other manufacturers just seem to scale down their designs for cow parlours. We liked what we saw and made contact with T H WHITE.”

George Eno, T H WHITE’s representative from the Huntley branch, visited the Pughs and compiled a proposal for a 2×18 parallel stall DeLaval P300SG parlour together with a MMS-SG milking management system. At the time of the proposal the farm was milking around 120 goats but the objective is eventually to have up to 400 goats in milk, making the P300SG parlour the perfect solution. It incorporates a vertical-lift front-exit stall with an integrated headlock system and sequence gates, all adding up to high throughput, smooth animal flow as well as comfort and safety for both  operators and animals. Above all, it results in reduced labour costs.

Having accepted the proposal the Pughs saw their new parlour installed in just over a month, with the first milking taking place on 5 May last year. The add-on DeLaval MMS-SG milking management system enables the flow to be measured by a flow sensor that incorporates a shut-off valve and has the capability to be upgraded to a fully automated milk yield recording and animal identification system, allowing the installation to meet the demands of the growing business.

The Pughs are now milking twice a day and, with the new parlour, it takes just 25 minutes to milk the whole herd.

“We are very fortunate in having a contract with such a high quality producer as Abergavenny Fine Foods who take our entire production,” said Bryan. “Hopefully the new parlour will mean we can continue to supply their needs as our herd grows as it’s particularly gratifying to know we are part of a production cycle that results in these outstanding gourmet products.”

Already the herd size is expanding, entirely with home-bred animals which maintains the quality. At a time when parts of the UK dairy industry are struggling against rising costs and cheap imports, it’s pleasing to report on an enterprise that has set its objectives clearly and is already achieving them with notable success. Of course, it’s partly due to teamwork and, as Bryan will confirm, the help from T H WHITE and George Eno has been invaluable.

If you would like advice on milking parlours for goats or sheep, please contact George Eno at the T H WHITE Huntley branch on 01452 830303, or email gte@thwhite.co.uk.

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The Reakes family have been farming Temple House Farm, on the Mendips near Shepton Mallet since 1929 and Simon and Ben Reakes are the fourth generation, working today with their father Roger who still milks every afternoon.

They take pride in the business they have built up and the high standards they have always applied to managing their herd, now of 160 cows. There’s not much that Roger doesn’t know about the dairy business, so it’s easy to imagine just how frustrating and upsetting it was when, for no obvious reason the cell counts in the milk they produced were consistently high and mastitis cases on the farm were rising.

“It was a mystery,” said Roger. “Hygiene in the parlour appeared to be good and we thought it must be down to an environmental factor such as the bedding conditions. We called in the vet who identified high incidences of strep uberis and we tried almost everything we could think of to get it under control over a period of about two years.
“I have to admit that I was the one who dug my heels in when it came to making fundamental changes in the way we worked. Simon had suggested quite early on that we should think about putting in a dip and rinse system, but I couldn’t see why we would need it as the dairy had good hygiene standards.”

Eventually the Reakes’ contacted T H WHITE who had installed their 24/24 DeLaval parlour some eight years previously and a demonstration of the AirWash Plus system was set up.
“After seeing it in action we managed to persuade dad to go for it,” said Simon, “and it proved to be one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Having consistently had cell counts of 200-plus, within 8-10 weeks of installing AirWash Plus they had dropped right down to 99 and are now averaging around 150. Not only that, but the number of mastitis cases were reduced by over 50 per cent.

“Our bactoscan also dropped from 30-40 and is now just 10-15 – the cluster liners really are sqeaky-clean! Clearly the AirWash Plus is not only cleaning but also preventing cross-infection between animals. Using just 10ml of teat dip per cow it’s economical too.

“Based on the saved cost of mastitis cases alone we expect to achieve pay-back on the AirWash Plus system in 2½ to 3 years.”

Roger Reakes is the first to say the farm should have installed dip and rinse sooner, but then it’s easy to be wise after the event. “Perhaps the best thing,” he says, “would be to talk to other farmers you can trust. Almost everyone has been through similar problems at some time in the past and there’s a tremendous knowledge base out there. We would certainly be happy to talk to any dairy farmers about the benefits of dip and rinse.”

Of course, you could always talk to the T H WHITE Dairy team for advice on milking parlours and the AirWash Plus system. Just call 01373 465941, or Gary Grant on 07860 590701.

“In organic dairy farming it’s important to address health issues before they even arise.” So says Paul Redmore, Farm Manager at Neston Park Farm in Wiltshire where the 300-strong Jersey herd produces top quality milk which is processed locally, mostly into cream and butter, to be sold under the Ivy House Farm label in many premier stores including Fortnum & Masons, Harrods and Selfridges.

The Neston estate has been in the hands of the Fuller family – famous for their participation in the Fuller, Smith and Turner brewery in London – since 1790 when John Fuller built Neston House there. In 1910 John Michael Fuller MP was created a baronet and, in 1998, the present owner Sir James Fuller became the fourth baronet. Like generations before him, he has continued to develop the Home Farm, which in 1999 was certified organic by the Soil Association.

Today, cereals grown organically on the 1,400-acre farm are used to feed the dairy herd, while beef cattle and lambs are also reared on Neston’s pastures.

The economics of organic farming led to the decision in 2014 to double the size of the dairy herd, which in turn placed extra demands on the milking parlour. “We knew we would have to install a larger parlour in due course,” said Paul, “but in the short term we needed to maximise efficiency as well as being scrupulous in the control of cleanliness and potential cross-infection.
“That got us thinking about installing a modern dip and rinse system, so we went to the dairy team at T H WHITE. They showed us the AirWash Plus system which not only has an outstanding track record in improving hygiene, but uniquely can be fitted to any cluster with any liner. An added bonus for us was the ability to transfer the system from the parlour we had then to our new parlour when it was ready.”

So it was, two years ago, that AirWash Plus was installed in the old milking parlour at Neston Park Farm. “The difference was almost immediate; cell counts dropped from almost 300 to between 150 and 180 and the incidence of mastitis was greatly reduced as well. Not only that, but we saved about 15 minutes on every milking by not having to dip the teats manually – a genuine gain.”

Earlier this year T H WHITE completed the installation of a brand new 24/24 DeLaval milking parlour at Neston with a full Delpro computer system and smaller stalls to suit the Jersey cows. As planned, the AirWash Plus equipment was transferred from the old parlour and expanded to serve the additional clusters.

“The new parlour is superb – very open and airy which makes the cows much more relaxed,” Paul added. “I’m really impressed with the job T H WHITE did, everything was correct with no corner cutting; all-in-all a nice, tidy job.”

While on-site, T H White also installed 48 powerful LED light clusters in the two cow sheds. With 40 per cent funding from the Countryside Productivity Scheme, these lights enable daylight hours to be artificially extended which improves milk yields – yet another way of increasing the viability of organic dairy farming.

There have been many far-reaching changes since the Norris family arrived at Sandys Hill Farm near Frome 63 years ago, but the latest chapter in the development of this dairy business is set to have a bigger impact than anything that has gone before. In mid-February this year milking on the farm was switched to four DeLaval robotic units with associated milking control and feed systems installed by T H WHITE.

Back in 1952 the family had just 16 Shorthorns which they milked by hand. In those early days Bob Norris worked with with his father and mother on the farm, being joined later by his brother Phil who left to go to university in 1970. The third brother, Dan, left school in 1979 and also started work on the farm. Gradually, the size of the herd was increased to today’s total of 220 cows, 195 of which are in milk.

“In 1994 we put in a DeLaval Blue Diamond tandem 2×5 stainless steel parlour which was perfect when we had 120-150 cows,” said Dan. “The parlour still had many years of life left in it, but now, with 195 cows being milked, the throughput was slow – it was taking 3½ hours twice a day plus washing time. We are all getting older and even though Bob’s son Jim has joined us in running the farm, he has suffered from hip problems. We all thought it was time to try and simplify our workload to give us and our wives – Jane, Emma and Pam – a better lifestyle cutting out the anti-social working hours.” These were the factors that led the Norrises to consider robotic milking.

At that point Phil, who had retired from a career as a defence engineer, returned to help on the farm while Jim had a hip operation, also contributing investment to the robotic milking project. “I was really pleased to be back,” he said, “and we started by looking at options from several manufacturers. In the end the DeLaval VMS (Voluntary Milking System) recommended by T H WHITE – who are very local to us in Frome – stood out above the competition.” Theoretically the farm could have managed with three DeLaval VMS units, but it was decided to invest for the future by going for four. “With the extra unit the cows can be milked whenever they want. Since we started using VMS the cows are being milked almost three times a day on average and we are aiming for 11,500 litres from each cow. With a capacity of around 55 cows per robot we have the scope to increase the size of the herd which could help with production economics against a background of uncertain milk prices,” Jim added.

The new VMS units were installed in conjunction with the DeLaval Milk-First cow traffic management system. This uses a selection gate to guide and pre-select cows for milking. The gate’s software determines whether or not a cow has permission to milk based on her expected yield, hours since last milking, lactation number and stage of lactation. This ensures that when a cow visits the robot she will be milked or diverted – eliminating refusals and increasing station capacity. The motivation for the cows is feeding, and feed concentrations in the milking units are used to tempt them in. Cows are pre-selected on their way from the stalls to the feed troughs – if they have milking permissions, they will enter the commitment pen to go through the robot; without milking permissions, they can simply go through the feed lane to eat. Dairy management is entrusted to DeLaval DelPro software which monitors all aspects of cow health, feeding, milk yield and reproduction, providing all the information needed to increase efficiency and profitability. When the time came to switch from the old parlour to the VMS system the Norrises helped to acclimatise the herd with a week’s training during which the cows were incentivised with feed to follow the logical paths through the traffic lanes. “Almost all of them took to it very easily,” said Jim. “Most of the cows stood still in the VMS stalls and very few kicked the milking lines off. Because the cows are guided, less fetching is needed and even cows with special needs are automatically diverted into a holding pen ready for when the vet visits. It has really cut down our workload.”

As might be expected with an installation of this size and complexity there were some minor teething issues. “At first some of the gates were acting prematurely and ‘pinching’ the cows, but with T H WHITE virtually on our doorstep their engineers were here straight away to address the problem.

“The whole system is proving its worth already, giving us a much better quality of life. If something in the system or one of the cows does need our attention we are alerted via smartphone messages whether we are at home, at the shops or on holiday anywhere in the world. Things can be dealt with promptly and we only have to go out when it’s really necessary. That really is luxury for a dairy farmer!”

If you are considering changing the way you milk or manage your herd it really is worth having a chat to the dairy team at T H WHITE on 01373 465941. We can help make your operation more efficient and profitable, as well as giving you more free time!