Barneighthill Farm
Farmer/owner: Robert & Alan Smith
Farm name: Barneighthill Farm, Mauchline
Herd: 150 cows
Milking system: Three Fullwood M2erlin robots
Date of installation: March 2018
Farming of any sort is a demanding, lonely, thankless profession with little if any financial reward and dairy producers probably have it worst, being tied to the daily grind of milking at least twice per day. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. While there is no getting away from the overall herd management that surrounds dairy farming, the mundane, time consuming process of milking cows can and is being done by an ever increasing number of robots.
Almost commonplace on dairy farms, they are making a huge difference to the lives of Robert & Elizabeth Smith, son Alan and his wife Ailsa and their two young daughters Anna (3) and Mollie (11 months).
“We certainly have a far better lifestyle now than we ever had before” said Alan. “Before our lives revolved completely around milking, which at 6am and 4pm with only 2 of us on farm was so restricting. Now we are able to have a day away and even a holiday, provided one of us is at home, without having to worry about getting relief milkers in.”
“The cows also appear happier and more content being able to be milked when they want to instead of being gathered into a parlour twice a day”
Housed 24/7 in cubicles, mats and sawdust and fed a more consistent high quality feed ration, milk yields and cow health have also improved.
Open Day 2019
Before the installation of our 3 x Fullwood M2erlin robots this flying herd of 180 cows milked through a 14 x 28 herringbone parlour.
Alan Smith “Cows are definitely more content, are easier to get into calf and they don’t get the same feet problems they used to when they were out at grass, so the hope is they should last that bit longer too”.
The cows being housed has enabled them to make better quality silage – taken over 2 bigger cuts to ensure a more consistent quality – they also rent out the ground to sheep farmers in the winter.
“Robots don’t save you time, but they do allow you to manage your time better. There is still the odd cow that has to be found and milked each morning and there are still all the other jobs to do out with milking but I know my cows better with the robot than I did milking them through the parlour. So much more of the work can be done in the comfort of your own home when milking.”