Adapted rotary provides life changes on family farm
Spending more than 12 hours daily milking 300
cows through a dated 10:10 parlour would be
unthinkable for many, and making the transition
to a 40-point rotary was a life-changer for the
Manning family of Bank Farm, Minsterley,
Shropshire. Simon Wragg reports.
Traces of blue paint on a cow shed’s steel pillars
act as the only visible reminder of where the old
parlour stood at Bank Farm. Until 2011, it was
the site of twice-daily milkings which deserve the
term ‘epic’, if only for the perseverance of those
who worked within its confined space.
The 150-hectare (370-acre) business was at the
time run by Phillip Manning and his parents David
and Beryl and had expanded progressively to 300
Holsteins and about 25 Jerseys with average yields
of 8,600kg and 6,000kg respectively.
Phillip says: “Dad did most of the milking and
I helped out when needed. I did not like the old
parlour at all as it was far too cramped and, as a
result, became a source of tension between us.”
As breeding progressed, a growing number of
cows no longer fitted the old standings. The dated
facilities, along with cows being housed in loose
straw yards, also impacted on milk hygiene with
rising cell counts making worrying reading.
He says: “From as early as 2002, Dad had
dreamed of having a rotary parlour, and in 2011,
we had decided to go ahead.”
With cow sheds occupying the upper end of the
farm’s sloping yard, plans were drawn up for the
new down-bank development which was closer to
road access.
Phillip says: “It fitted my desire of having no
outside traffic driving into the farmyard to either
collect milk or deliver feed, helping improve biosecurity.
“Dad was determined a rotary was the way
forward, having visited dairy units in New
Zealand. We wanted a simple design with no
unnecessary technology, as, for me, its prime job
is to harvest milk quickly and allow cows back to
feed and housing with no unnecessary standing
time.”
Several dairy farms with rotaries were visited to
help formulate ideas on layout.
“This was probably the best investment we made,”
says Phillip. “Common advice was to make the
collecting area twice as big as you would think to
cope with expansion.
“We chose a Milfos parlour manufactured in
New Zealand, after seeing one working near
Carmarthen. The company was really the only one
which had listened when I said we did not want
anything fancy. It is fitted with automatic cluster
removers, yield meters and a feeder.”
Groundwork for the development began in
October 2011, says Phillip’s sister Jayne.
She says: “The one thing you do need is a
construction and installation team which works
well together or it would be chaos. We had John
Hilditch, who had built a rotary parlour, and we
set the team an unrealistic deadline of May 21,
2012, for the first milking, which we came very
close to achieving.”
To cap costs, a simple steel portal frame shed
was erected to accommodate the rotary parlour,
leaving an all-weather 16,000-litre milk bulk tank
to be located outside.
Helping to reduce further spending, cow flow
from the existing cow housing to the new parlour
needed little improvement and today is accessed
via a large gently narrowing collecting yard.
Phillip says: “We do not have a backing gate, as in
my opinion, you should not need it if the parlour
design is right.”
The works had an unexpected beneficial impact on
family life, he says. “Once we could see progress
being made, tensions generated over the old
parlour just went.”
As the May deadline approached, everyone
pitched in to get the new parlour ready, says Jayne
– who along with two other sisters, Ruth and
Emma, worked away from the farm at the time.
Jayne says: “It was a real team effort, but with
early starts and late nights, we were able to get the
first cows milked on May 22.”
A temporary race was made using Heston bales
to funnel cows to the platform. Transition was
largely straight-forward and the first milking was
completed in just two hours and 10 minutes – a
saving of almost four hours.
A mind-shift was needed with the change in
parlour design. Phillip says: “It has brought its
own pressures. There has been a shift in the
demand on labour in a shorter window during
milking to get the cow yards cleaned out.”
This has been compounded by the shift from
straw yards to the current 482 sand cubicles in a
successful bid to improve milk hygiene and cow
health. To date, Bactoscans for the larger 480cow herd supplying a liquid contract have fallen
considerably.
He adds: “We now house cows for most of the
year, as we only have 60 acres for grazing nearby,
although there is access to a loafing area when
conditions allow.
“We employ two local girls, Amy and Kirsty, who
do the weekday milking with one wet-wiping and
drawing off while the other puts on clusters.
“While it is true you do not get much time to see
each cow during milking, they have more time
to express themselves naturally in the yards,
particularly when bulling. I tend to artificially
inseminate cows on the platform during milking
rather than draft them off as it is part of their
normal routine.
“We will invest in an auto-shedding gate at some
point to assist with drying off cows, having
already installed a teat auto-sprayer for postmilking hygiene.”
The herd calves all-year-round with an emphasis
on black and white genetics. Phillip had
introduced Jerseys to the Etsill herd of Holsteins,
but demands on time and a question mark over the
financial viability has seen the decision reversed.
Focus has remained on developing a simple
system around Bank Farm’s limit on the amount
of forage which can be grown.
He says: “Our land is heavy clay and first cut is
not possible until late May or early June. But we
grow a good crop of whole-crop wheat, yielding
15 tonnes/acre, and have introduced it as a third
forage to the TMR diet.
“It complements 130 acres of maize grown locally
on contract, which is layered in two new clamps
with either first cut grass silage or whole-crop.
John Allcock of NWF helps formulate the ration
based on my belief that if it is simple, it gets
done.”
The TMR is 10 per cent grass