Jonathan Owens

On this Killavullen farm, tradition meets technology on a family-run dairy that’s as committed to quality yogurt as it is to quality of life. Nestled in the countryside and operated by Jonathan Owens alongside his wife, Niamh; their baby daughter, Alva; and Jonathan’s parents, Gerard and Deirdre, this multigenerational farm proves that modern farming can thrive when innovation supports family values.

The heart of the operation is the Lely A5 robotic milking system, installed in 2023, and a Lely Disco Collector 120—tools that allow flexibility in the working day and precision in animal care. Whether Jonathan is teaching at the local primary school or tending to his herd, the system ensures consistency, welfare, and efficiency.

The Owens farm is also home to Greenfield Yogurts, a premium line of natural yogurt made from milk produced on-site.

Labour Savings & Efficiency

Since installing the Astronaut A5, "it's been a game changer" for the Owens family. "Flexibility is the big thing, you're not tied to morning and evening milking. It's still a busy farm but if there's anything on at 5 o clock, it dosen't matter" 

Taking away the physical load of milking was a huge advantage, but so was the ability to autodraft cows to a seperation area at the back of the robot. "Every night I can check the app on my phone to see if any cows need attention, has the health report flagged any, so I can set them to draft automatically when they come into the robot and I can treat them or even for AI we just set them to autodraft when heats are detected, so, I'm not running looking for and hunting in cows."

 

Milk Quality and Herd Health

"Milk quality testing on the robot is excellent, every milking it will do a cell count and conductivity per quarter, which I can then individually treat or check. For us it has meant being able to detect mastitis a day or two before it's visible and nip that in the bud."

"Even if a cow does get mastitis, there's no stress about holding her back and all the stress of serperating her milk, it's just a case of key in her number and what medicine she got; I have the medicines set up so her withdrawals are automatically entered and the milk will seperate from the tank for that period; it takes the human error out of it and the robot will wash after everytime she is milked so no contamination." 

"What we find very useful with the robot and treating mastitis , is setting that cow to milk more—up to 6 times—and draw the milk out, which we find cures it up quicker."

 

Open Day July 17th

To see first hand how the Lely Astronaut A5 has transformed Jonathan’s farm, join us for his Lely Open Day on Thursday, July 17th. This is a fantastic opportunity to hear directly from Jonathan about his experience, see the robot in action, and chat with industry experts and suppliers.

Don’t miss out—come along and discover how robotic milking could work for you!