Tickety Moo farm goes robotic

Editorial Department • Published 2 Feb 2012 13:00 0 Comments

There's a new experience for the public at one of Fermanagh's best known farms. The Jersey dairy farm which produces Tickety Moo ice-cream now has robotic milkers to help produce the creamy milk that goes into this much sought confectionery.

As a result, DeLaval Ltd who market the robotic milkers, will hold an open day on Thursday next, February 9 from 10.30am to 4.30pm by kind permission of John and Marcus Grey, at Oghill Farm, Killadeas. This hi-tech farm enterprise is signposted off the Enniskillen-Kesh Road.

Visitors can watch it's herd of award winning 120 pedigree Jersey cows being milked 24/7 at the cows' convenience and taste their famous home made Tickety Moo ice-cream with 18 flavours to choose from!

Among the unusual features on this farm are two VMS (Voluntary Milking System) units and two DeLaval out of parlour feeders installed by Albert Jones, the local DeLaval dealer in Ederney. Any technical issues can be diagnosed online by the local dealer and DeLaval support personnel using the internet.

Marcus Grey and father, John are partners in this innovative and successful family business. Marcus is responsible for the dairy herd and brother Gareth has looked after the ice cream business. Jersey cows produce milk high in butterfat, protein and calcium so it is ideal for making luxury ice cream. Their other brother 'Gordon' practises as a vet and also has a large input into the running of the herd.

According to Marcus, the reasons include improved cow welfare and reduced labour required.

"Our cows are no longer stranding in the yard for two hours waiting to be milked and milk yield has improved by three litres/cow/day. There is less stress on the cows' udder at peak lactation and some cows actually go to be milked five times a day. Individual cows can be producing as much 45 litres/day," he said.

The VMS system uses a robotic arm together with lasers and an image processing system for precise, quick teat detection. It memorises any changes in the udder shape. The touch-screen is colour coded-green, yellow and red. Red indicates a problem while yellow is a warning signal.

The cows enjoy the two DeLaval cow brushes on the farm and a robotic scraper cleans the passage ways.

According to Marcus, the DeLaval auto ID and activity meters are very reliable.

"It was surprisingly easy to train our cows-only two days on average," Marcus said.

Meals are fed via two augers to cows in the VMS system. One ration is high in protein and the other is high in energy. They no longer use a mixer wagon and grass silage is fed once a day. The Grey herd of Jerseys has won numerous awards and with plans to increase the herd ot 150 cows, the average yield for 305 days is an impressive 6,300 litres (1385 gals) at 5.8% Butterfat and 4.1 % protein. Milk goes to Glanbia in Magheralin and Virginia. 20% is used for ice cream.

For further information on hi tech milking, cleaning, feeding and herd management systems contact Albert Jones, DeLaval dealer (Tel: 028 68631251) or Stafford McElrea, DeLaval District Sales Manager (Tel: 0777.8541529) or the website at www.delaval.co.uk

The Tickety Moo shop is open from Easter through to September when there is an opportunity to see the cows being milked daily.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 02 Feb 12

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