Lely’s live robotic milking exhibition in association with Drayne’s Farm returns to the 2016 Balmoral Show, which gets underway from tomorrow Tuesday, May 11 at Balmoral Park.
Some 40 cows have made the short journey from Lisburn to a purpose built dairy unit at the Showgrounds where they will be milked at their leisure during the show.
Michael Drayne from Drayne’s Farm said that after the reception from the local public at the 2015 show they had no hesitation in teaming up with the event organisers and Lely once again.
“We are excited that the public will have the opportunity of seeing our cows in action once more in a real live environment where they will experience first-hand how efficient the system is and how well the cows are cared for.”
The Lely robotic milking system and its excellent management tools have really freed up invaluable time on our farm to look after the welfare of our cows and for me welfare is everything.
“We’ve been milking cows here in Lisburn for over 80 years, our family business has grown over those years and we now supply milk and cream products to customers across three counties of Northern Ireland.”
Drayne said that they’ve recently started to make ice-cream with the milk and cream and are pleased to announce that they will be showcasing the ice-cream on the Lely stand at the show this year.
“So not only will the public see our cows producing wholesome fresh milk they will also have the opportunity of buying some delicious ice-cream.”
Lely’s Tomas Cooney said that cows are milked more often than in a traditional system and the Lely Astronaut recognizes each cow individually.
Every event from birth until the day she leaves the farm is stored on the T4C (time for cows) management program which is then very clearly presented in a dashboard format.
“It enables the farmer to supply an individual cow with all her needs for optimal health, milk production and well being.”
Jim Irwin from Lely Center Eglish who as well as 24/7 back-up, provides advice in all areas from barn design, layout, and installation along with start-up said that Lely will have live interviews with some of their customers on the stand each day at 11am, 2pm and 4pm.
“Who better is there to share their knowledge than those farmers who are using the system on a daily basis.”
Different topics from grazing, to labour saving and comparing conventional to robotic milking will be discussed and the public will also see how easy it is to manage your herd from the palm of your hand from anywhere in the world with Lely Inherd, he concluded.
First introduced in 1992, the Lely robotic milking machine today has over 24,000 working worldwide, milking over a 1.2m cows daily.
