Bellemont Holsteins

Nathanael explained: “The robots were an appealing prospect. We considered big parallel parlours and we considered rotary parlours, but those rely on a constant flow of staff which can’t always be a given. The robots can be relied upon to get the milking done efficiently and with minimal manpower if required. It's surprising to me to see how well the cows have taken to them; heifers especially have that ability to milk whenever needed and not sitting under constant pressure.”

This year the McCollum family have put full confidence in Lely Horizon, using it as their key herd management software. Nathanael recognises how user-friendly the software is. The ability to use live data to make informed decisions is crucial. The option to generate reports on demand and transfer them directly to the robot screen, when required, further enhances its ease of use. “With Horizon and the robots, we are able to manage the cows better, giving us conductivity and scc reports regularly and rumination and heat detection.”

 

Other integral parts of the package include routinely footbathing the cows easily via the routing gates, which means the cows aren’t chased or rushed around the yards.” It is vital to the McCollum’s business that the robots operate efficiently 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making the support provided by Lely Center Eglish extremely important. Nathanael commented, "The team of highly trained engineers who cover our area are incredibly helpful. Whenever possible, they will talk us through any issues over the phone, and if required, they can be on-site at short notice to provide support."

Now coming up to ten years with the Lely A5 robots, in many ways it was one small step for Nathanael, but a huge leap for the Bellemont herd, rated No.18 in the UK for PLI
and boasting 10,500 litres of milk with an impressive 5.01% butterfat and 3.74% protein on the latest milk test. Almost 70% of the herd are milking two-year olds, with a high demand for ‘robot-trained cows’, especially coming from Lely start-up herds. New dairymen come with their
robot collars, swap them around, synchronise the details, and they are off to a dream start.

With the next generation growing up on the farm, the hope is that the changes being made today will leave them a business that they will want to take forward.