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Farm/dairy name: Brookmount farm
Owners: Wallace Magowan and partners
No of dairy cows:130 -140
Breed of cows: Pedigree Holstein/Friesian
Housing: Umbrella building
Milking system: DeLaval Heringbone 50º with 24 x 24 milking system
Number of milkings per day: 3
Wallace Magowan is 25 years old, single and totally focused on the business of being a dairy farmer. He is managing partner of 260 acre Brookmount farm which the partners bought in 1993/4. The milking system in those days was a competitive 10 x 10 parlour in a rather cramped building with a loft, all dark and gloomy.
Approximately two years ago the decision was made to completely revamp the dairy enterprise, to have everything under one roof and for it to be a one man “state of the art” operation. At the time the herd average was 8400 litres. The aim was to raise this to 10,000 litre average, have good quality milk and a herd suitable to show at exhibition. The time plan was three years!
Today after 15 months the aims have been achieved with Wallace saying: “What’s the sense of housing and milking 200 cows when you can get the same results from 150?”
The cows are housed in a large umbrella building in cow cubicles with slats. Equipped with DeLaval mats the cubicles are dressed with sawdust in the mornings and lime in the afternoons to keep the cows clean and dry. A further innovation is the Delaval cow brush Wallace said “I found the cows getting dusty and moulting dry hairs so I decided to install the cow brush – big difference - the cows like it and spend lots of time keeping themselves tidy now so we don’t have too”
A basic ration of maize whole crop silage and straw is fed by diet feeder wagon. Concentrate is fed both in the parlour and in the cubical section all being controlled by the cows wearing a transponder. The DeLaval Alpro® management system ensures that where ever they are each cows gets her individual entitlement to food based on the “little and often principle”
The herd average is 10,000litres per cow per year at 4.3% butterfat and 3.3% protein with the bactascan and SCC well under control. Milked in a DeLaval 50°Herringbone parlour 24 x 24 this parlour has a full Alpro® automation package including automatic parlour identification, in parlour feeding and milk yield metering.
All the electronics are mounted in Mystro milking point cabinets of which Wallace said “The equipment is well protected and looks very smart. We have no problems at all with this level of electronic equipment” The heart of the equipment is the EP100 pulsation and the Harmony clusters of which the comment was “I’m well impressed, we have very few kick-offs”
The farm keeps and rears all heifer calves aiming for a first calving of 28 months. AI is used exclusively with the best semen available. The cows are looked after by the Alpro® system of which Wallace said “I have found the processor very simple and easy to use. It gives me the information I need at the time I need it”
The installation and service is carried out by Francis Dunn Ltd of Donaghadee who is only minutes from the farm.
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