Derek O'Halloran, Co. Longford

x1 Lely Juno - 2 to 3 litres more milk and one hour less labour per day 

Derek O’Halloran farms in Laughill, Co. Longford. The farm converted to dairying in late 2020 operating an indoor system with a Lely Astronaut A5 robot. In 2021 cows averaged 12,000L, up from 10,000L as heifers. Cows are currently averaging over 36L/day.

The cows are fed 8kg of meal/day in the robot, along with 5kg of meal in the diet feeder which is combined with silage, straw and 2kg molasses. Prior to installing a Lely Juno automatic feed-pusher the herd was fed three quarters of their diet at 7pm daily, this was pushed in with a wheel on the loader at 8am. Then the final quarter of the feed was fed out, which was pushed in with the wheel at lunch time and again at 5pm, then the cows are fed again in the evening.

“We felt we were doing things right, but we thought there may have been more potential in the cows and we also wanted to reduce labour, so we invested in a Lely Juno automatic feed pusher”, said Derek.

Lely Juno benefits

So far, the cows are up 2.5-3L of milk per day, with total intake for the herd up 200kg in the diet feeder per day. This has resulted in the cows looking fuller and as a result being more content in the shed according to Derek.

“When we go to feed them, there is no pushing or fighting to get to the feed barrier for feed. Now we feed the full TMR at 7pm daily, the Juno pushes in the feed at 10pm and every three hours until 5pm the following day. Due to the regular pushing-in there is very little feed left when we go to feed again at 7pm,” Derek said.

He continued; “the first two pushes completed by the Juno are further away. As the feed is eaten by the cows, the Juno pushes it in further. When it leaves the charging station it goes around the full shed. It then steps in six inches and goes back around to the charge point again.”

Great investment

“We now feed the full TMR in the evening and there is no pushing in with the wheel. It is saving us at least 1 hour in labour every day. The investment in the Juno is very easy to justify, as we are up 3L/cow/day in milk output, at current milk price it will have paid for itself in the first year. Plus, the cows are now fuller, healthier, more content and settled than ever before,” concluded Derek.

For more information contact Lely Center Mullingar on 044 9330320