Taking Dairy Farm Tech to the limit

06/10/2012 Website News
Taking Dairy Farm Tech to the limit According to Farmers Weekly - A 21st-century dairy farm to which you would be proud to welcome any visiting member of the public is how you would describe Thomas Steele's Northern Irish unit.
His attention to detail, use and understanding of technology, impressive business plan for growth, focus on sharing knowledge with other farmers and impressive performance figures certainly wowed the judges on their visit.
By focusing on the latest technology, Thomas has created a modern farming system for his herd of 400 high-yielding Holstein Friesian cows, which pay their way with a profit before drawings of 6p/litre.
Together with his father and brother, he has carried out gradual expansion and a series of investments in the past few years including new cow accommodation, a 60-point rotary parlour and installation of innovative dairy farm management software.
A DARD Focus Farmer, Thomas is pioneering the AfiMilk computerised farm software - the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland, and originally developed in Israel - which uses cow pedometers and a weigh scale to body condition score cows as they leave the parlour.

Farm Facts: Rowreagh Farm, County Down
263ha farm with 400 Holstein Friesian cows averaging 10,243 litres
Brand new, state-of-the-art facility
40% yield from forage
During milking, conductivity is assessed to allow early detection of E coli and mastitis cases. The information gathered with body condition score, milk yield and stage of lactation allows Thomas to feed each cow according to its needs.
He explains: "Cows are fed by yield, days in milk and weight." Technology has enabled him to use the information gathered to identify any problems early.
A farmer who is keen to share his knowledge, Thomas has welcomed more than 1,000 visitors to his farm since becoming a DARD Focus Farmer. After-school clubs come to visit, along with pupils from the local secondary school on work experience and students from Edinburgh Vet School.
Achieving an average yield of 10,555 litres a cow, the Steeles get an impressive 4,330 litres of this from forage - a strategy achieved by aiming to produce enough good-quality first-cut grass and maize silage to feed the high-yielders all year round.
From an environmental perspective, the family has set aside 12ha of the farm as part of a Countryside Management Scheme. In addition, all roof water is recycled for use in washing down the parlour and a heat recovery system has been put in place.
You might be forgiven for thinking time off from such a large, technology-driven unit would be unheard off, but there is nothing Thomas likes more than spending time with his wife and three children.
And when he's not busy playing dad and dairy farmer, he spends time studying Business Development in Agri-Food MSc at Ulster University, Jordanstown or taking part in discussions with the Lakeland Dairies producer committee.
Read full story: - http://bit.ly/VK98GR

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