| 23 nzdairy Dairy farming and contracting in the mix Russell Fredric DAIRY PEOPLE » Ian and Carmen Comins Nearly seven years after having a Lely robotic milking and feed systems installed, Ian Comins is still saying the upgrade is lifechanging. “If ever we sold this farm and went somewhere else it’d be top on my list to start with.” Ian and his wife Carmen have owned a 100 cow dairy unit on 30 hectares at Kihikihi in Waikato for the past 16 years and had two milking robots installed in 2018. Ian helps Carmen in the mornings before leaving for his day job as a rural contractor, a 25 year-old family business he runs with his brother Bryan and that his late father Graeme used to work in as well. “I give Carmen a bit of a hand in the morning, just shifting a few fences and sorting that out, and she takes care of it for the rest of the day and does all the afternoon milking duties at the robots.” Most of the herd is autumn calved from the 20th of February, ideal for the climate and the system 3 to 4 operation which runs on 150 tonnes of maize silage off six hectares and about 80 bales of silage, with lucerne cut-and-carried as about 120 bales from a nearby lease block. The robotic systems were installed at a cost of about $500,000, making life much easier for both Ian and Carmen, effectively transforming the farm operation into a half a labour unit operation most of the year except during calving. “A small herd milking through a standard cow shed, you wonder why you do it, but with this system – it’s a bit of an outlay to start with, but it takes care of itself after that.” The herd last season produced 43,000 kilograms of milk solids, or an average of 452 kilograms per cow. The cows have a transponder on a collar around their neck, which tells the gate system and Ian and Carmen Comins, Lely robotic milking and feed system upgrade is life changing. robot when they are ready to be milked. The robots also control supplementary feed; cows are fed between three to five kilograms of meal during milking depending on their daily production, plus grass and silage. After milking, the cows are automatically drafted through one of three races to fresh grazing, or otherwise drafted through a fourth gate if they have any health issues such as mastitis or lameness. DIGGER - Ripper - Thumb - Laser Levelling - Race Upgrades - Vee Draining - Tilt Bucket - Ground Contouring Scoop TRACTORS - Ploughing & Discing - Loaderwagons x2 - Round and Square Bales - Undersowing - 3 Mtr Air Seed Double roll Roller Drill - Grader Blade TRUCKS - General Cartage - Silage / Hay Cartage - Lime delivered & Spread - 8 Tonne Spreader - K2 Muck Spreader - Chicken & Duck Manure COMINS CONTRACTING LTD FOR ALL YOUR AG. REQUIREMENTS Bryan 027 476 8215 - Ian 027 259 5033 For optimal growth and development... ...from calf to dairy cow Reduce the breeding period and stimulate the calf’s development into a strong, healthy and highyielding cow with the Lely Calm. This automatic feeder supplies milk at the right temperature and provides insights into the milk intake of each calf. Find out more on lely.com Bright farming is yours by choice Ian and Carmen have been focused on cows that have good conformation, temperament and good udders for the robotic milking system, but maintaining good somatic cell counts has been a challenge over the past 12 months. “We are putting it down to older cows that we haven’t been culling out which we are getting on top of now.” The Lely system produces a large amount of information, including milk volume, fat and protein for each cow, heat detection and somatic cell count, plus information gained from the cows’ collars. The robots and their associated equipment are serviced by Lely every six months, and have been very reliable, Ian says. “We find them very, very good; a good response if there’s anything we need doing, good backup with their service techs.”
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