Richard Kingston has been managing director of BouMatic Gascoigne Melotte, a leading supplier of high-quality milking equipment, for the last 20 years, and has experienced first-hand the rise in demand for farm technology.

Boumatic is a true family run business led by Richard, and supported by his sons Paul and Donal.

The company's postal address for Boumatic is Athy, Co. Kildare, but technically the business and the family home is in Co. Laois – a very important distinction as both Donal and Paul have played senior football for the county.

BouMatic Gascoigne Melotte has been in Ireland since 1935 and specialises in milking technology such as Swing-Over, Double-Up and Rotary Milking Parlours, Robotics, Feeding Systems and Herd Management Systems.

The business has a network of 22 dealers located all over the country working with dairy farmers to enhance facilities on their farms.

The Kingston’s don’t just talk the talk when it comes to dairy technology, but they also walk the walk, milking their own dairy herd with robots.

“We’re able to look at this from both perspectives," explained Richards.

"From the dairy farmer side of things we understand the pressures that come with the job in terms of labour, costs and environmental concerns; and from the farm technology side of things, we are able to identify the latest developments which can assist dairy farmers in making their farm more efficient."

While the installation of milking parlours has been the core focus for the business over the last 10 years, BouMatic Gascoigne Melotte is also offering a wide range of add-ons to make it as labour-free as possible.

“Labour is becoming a serious cost on farms now. A lot of small family farms are a one-man operation and they need to have the technology in place to help them to run that farm," said Richard.

"The fact is, if you have to keep less cows, you will need to make sure the cows you have are producing more milk."

The company recently added the Saber sorting gate to its portfolio on the back of interest from farmers in a standalone drafting solution.

Paul said that when they started to see the demand for a drafting gate which could work in existing milking parlours, they had a look around to see what solutions were on the market.

"There are lots of brands out there but from talking to farmers Saber was coming out top in terms of build quality," he said.

"The other big benefit is that the Saber sorting gate can operate as a standalone solution for farmers who can draft cows on sight using a remote control on the milking parlour, but it can also work in conjunction with SenseHub monitoring technology, allowing the farmer to control the whole drafting process automatically.”

To enquire about installing a Saber sorting gate from BouMatic Gascoigne Melotte contact Paul or Donal Kingston on; 059 862 5278, or by email at; [email protected].

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