The introduction of the Lely Astronaut automatic milking system, Lely Grazeway selection box, and Lely Discovery automatic manure scraper, has delivered the desired work-life balance for a South Tipperary farmer - who has not looked back since going robotic.

Brendan English, who is currently milking 69 cows on a 27ha block on the family farm at Garryclogher, just outside Cahir, also works off-farm.

He began exploring automated milking options in 2016.

Brendan said: “Up to that point, we were milking in an eight-unit parlour, but the time had come for us to consider a more efficient alternative.

“So, once we’d put in the necessary research and given it the required level of thought, we opted for Lely and installed the Astronaut in March 2017.

“We fitted the Astronaut into a building in the yard and then placed our Grazeway at a point which provided good access for the cow, whether she's walking from our A, B or C milking blocks.

" Once we had the system in place, we put all the cows out to grass and then trained them through the Grazeway and then onto the Astronaut all in one go,” Brendan explained.

Prior to 2017, the Englishs' herd was miked on a set schedule, irrespective of readiness or cow handling (both over-milking and under-milking can lead to udder and teat problems).

Thanks to the Lely Astronaut, cows are free to be milked whenever the pre-set parameters allow them to do so, either by through the minimum amount of milkings or expected milk production.

Lely’s robotic milking system is also gentler on the cow, reducing stress while providing greater freedom of movement.

In tandem, the Lely Grazeway compliments the Astronaut’s efficiency.

Thanks to the Grazeway, cows choose for themselves whether and when they want to go out to pasture. The Lely Grazeway then determines whether or not they can via the tags’ cow-recognition system

 “Initially, we were bringing cows in incrementally. But once the first few cows came in, more followed and by week three, 90% of the cows were moving freely in and out to the robot themselves.

"By week six, every single cow was moving freely.” Brendan recalled.

The English family adopted a “cardinal rule” when it came to bedding in the new on-farm practice.

“We just didn’t hunt cows,” said Brendan.

As part of integrating the Lely suite, the English family implemented the ‘ABC’ grazing system, offering three fresh eight-hour grazing/feed allocations for the herd on a daily basis.

“We already had the A roadway in place, whereas we had decisions to make when it came to both the B and C roadway," said Brendan.

The South Tipperary farmer explained that they actually moved their C roadway a year in after realising there was a preferable place for it, and then added on spur roadways to better facilitate access to certain paddocks.

“This is a limestone (soil-based) farm, so the cows were grazing until November 23 while our turnout date was on January 16. And thanks to the Grazeway, we can utilise our grass better. We can get the cows out in a calmer way and then they incrementally come in and out.

"We’ve established that the recovery and regrowths have improved post-automation, which means that cows are out longer and they're getting more grass into the system,” Brendan said.

Meanwhile, the Lely Discovery Scraper has literally taken the daily task of manure-scraping out of Brendan’s hands, with its smart design providing access to every corner of the barn, helping to maintain optimal barn hygiene.

While production levels at the end of the first year of using the robotic milking system were more or less the same as they were the previous year, by years three and four, the benefits of the system became evident to Brendan.

“By 2021, we were up to 540kg of milk solids, whereas over the last couple of years, when the weather hasn’t been as good, we’ve been at 507kg of solids and have fed just over 1,000kgs of meal to deliver that figure.

"Our better cows are being fed a little more so they're coming to the robot more frequently and are being milked a bit more.

"For example, our top cow for a couple of years was being milked three times a day, producing 10,000L, which underlines how well the system works for high producing cows.”

Data-driven access to individual animal performance via the Lely Astronaut is another of the many benefits the English farm has benefited from.

“At the touch of a button, we have figures on fat, protein, cell count, milk speed and the cow’s general health. We can tell if a cow has mastitis before it becomes a full-blown case, which is a massive help.

"With the Lely Discovery keeping the yard so clean, the number of mastitis cases has dropped considerably. That means more milk in the tank and more profit,” he explained

With individual data available for each cow, combined with the data of the bulls used during breeding, Brendan has seen improvements in protein and milk speed respectively.

“The technology that we have at our disposal means we can zone in on the score of both the cow and the bull, all of which is vital in helping to breed the best possible calf.

“Thanks to the flexibility provided by the automated system, I’m no longer rushing around to get jobs done the way I used to," he added.

Brendan added that while the robotic milking system does not do everything, it has taken a lot of the day-to-day burden from his shoulders.

"Sure, you still have to move wires and so on – that’s just a fact of life – but the fact that the system is cow-centred is a huge benefit from both the herd’s perspective and my own.

"Be it a call-out or over the phone, there’s no great delay in resolving any issue - and for me, that’s what sets Lely apart.”