Keeping cows comfortable

“Things don’t happen without good relationships,” he said.

Matt’s decision to install a Lely robotic dairy is a bit surprising considering he doesn’t own the land, but the two-robot system is working well with his current output.

Matt has been dairying since leaving school about 20 years ago, and about 10 years ago started to rear and trade beef and dairy calves.

He worked for Derek and Julia Gale who not only gave him opportunities to learn dairying but to build equity.

“They understand the importance of more people getting into dairying and you can’t do that without the support of a lot of other people,” Matt said.

About 18 months ago, a property at Glenfyne came up for lease, about a 15-minute drive from Camperdown where Matt lives with wife Jess and two children.

It was a dairy farm 20 years ago and since had multiple uses, including as an outblock for dairies, raising beef.

“About three months in, I thought it was too nice a block just for beef, so I asked the owner if he’d mind if I put a milking plant in the old dairy,” Matt said.

“He was originally thinking of a second-hand herringbone for the structure built in the 1960s, but the robotic option was raised in discussions with South West Dairies.

“I thought I can’t afford that but they took me to see one and once I saw how happy the cows are I decided to look into it.”

It was a big investment for a lessee, but Matt negotiated a formal long-term agreement to replace his previous handshake deal and everything in the dairy can be removed and relocated if needed.

“A conventional dairy would be cheaper or second hand cheaper again but you look at what you’re getting for your money,” Matt said.

“I couldn’t see myself in a conventional dairy in five years. I’ve always been someone who thoroughly enjoyed milking, but you know your body has limitations as you get older.”

He talked to different companies and was impressed with all products, but Lely units fit without reconstructing the shed.

“With other robotic systems, the cows step in on an angle and step out so you need more width, with Lely they walk in at the back and out at the front and that fits perfectly in this shed.”

It was a 22-a-side swing-over herringbone — now it has two robotic units, one either side of the pit which has been covered with mesh.

It is recommended that robotic dairies are built next door to a manual and the cows are walked through to get them used to it before making the switch.

That wasn’t an option for Matt who had pieced together a herd from dispersal sales that were being milked at his brother James’ farm.

“Until I started the robots, I hadn’t milked cows for myself,” Matt said.

Despite the first week being a challenge with cows being trucked into their new home, the herd was quick to adjust to the robots.

“The biggest selling point for me is how content and happy the cows are,” Matt said.

“They are working on their own timeline. From a health perspective, the cows are walking at their own pace, sleeping when they need to, coming in to get milked when they’re ready.”

The herd has about 150 cows, with 125 in milk at any time.

They are mostly Jerseys and Matt will move towards a 100 per cent Jersey herd, though he will be limited to existing numbers due to the dairy size and the farm being just over 100 hectares, including land for young stock and dry stock.

He continues to rear all animals and the export of dairy heifers and beef continues to be an important part of his business.

“You get efficiency gains with larger herds but you also get losses,” Matt said.

“Large herds walk further, which comes at an expense with more energy burned, less time eating and less milk produced. From production per cow, smaller herds have their own efficiencies.”

The dairy runs 24-hours-a-day and about 75 per cent of the time there are cows milking.

Matt does all the cow and dairy work — although ideally it would be a 1.5 workforce — while all harvest and cultivation work is outsourced to younger brother, agricultural contractor Michael.

“I don’t want too much capital tied up in farm machinery outside the dairy and it’s good to pool resources and build relationships.”

South West Dairies installed and service the robots on behalf of Lely and Matt also developed a good relationship with Fonterra’s field services team as he planned the changes.

Now he’s enjoying working with the cows under a new arrangement — more of a spectator than a boss.

He misses the direct involvement of working with cows during milking, but the dairy provides all the temperature, activity, rumination, cell count, butter fat and protein stats he needs.

In general, they are producing well and Matt will now focus on fine-tuning the herd and developing a slightly bigger cow.

“My cows are relatively small but I will grow them a bit bigger over time which will give them a greater eating and production capacity.”

Although not from a Jersey background, he became enamoured with the breed when cattle trading.

“I got 20 Jerseys pretty much for the cost of transport and I really liked their nature and they are easier to handle,” Matt said.

“They will meet you at the gate, then run through and the rest of the group will follow.

“They are efficient and I notice on hot days that Jerseys will be out grazing, other cows will be huddled under a tree.

“For their liveweight, they are a really efficient production animal.”

Matt is introducing year-round calving, with breaks only for Christmas and the wet winters.

“The robots come with collars, so you get heat detection so I can AI year-round and slowly spread them out,” he said.

“The robots have limits to how many cows they can milk. Year-round calving enables me to keep that maximum number all year.

“Seasonal calving has its pros and cons, but for me maximising from my capital investment is important and having 30-40 extra cows in the herd will help.

“Always having freshly-calved cows in the system works quite well. It is a voluntary system and a fresh cow works well in a robot system.”

It also fits well with his fresh milk contract with Fonterra.

Six months in, the cows have settled well, and so has Matt.

“I enjoyed the milking procedure and the connection with the cows, but you wouldn’t get me going back,” he said.

“The flexibility is phenomenal and you can’t put a price on that. I look back at before and don’t know how we were juggling when I was fixed milking twice a day.

“I always thought I was a cow-friendly person and cows were happy around me, but to see a cow express herself when you’re not dictating what she does is very different.

“They see you differently. I’m just a spectator in their minds.”

Matt hopes to fine-tune the herd with genetics, building on those that thrive in the system, and has long-term ambitions to buy the land and also potentially look at a separate farm with a similar system.