Farmer Stories

“Since getting the Lely Discovery, we have significantly reduced mastitis instances and SCC levels on farm, so there is a huge cost saving there. Overall, the farm is much cleaner, and the cows are too when they present in the parlour.”

  John Horgan from Enniskeane in Co.Cork first started robotic milking 3 years ago with 60 cows on 1 Lely Astronaut A5 robot and just last year added a second one while increasing "I remember standing in the yard one day and I said to myself, all I want to do is make my life a bit easier. Hard work wasn’t the problem, it was time. "

"There's no build up of slurry and it's great to be able to programme it exactly where I want it to go. Cows are cleaner and more content since installing the Discovery Collector 120! It's just a happier environment"

“Someone put it to me that the milking parlour was a once in a generation development, which was certainly the case on our own farm given that my Grandfather and Aunt both built parlours. But I felt the robot was what we required looking towards the future.”

When I made the decision to change to robotic milking, some people said to me I must be mad because I’d be getting away from physically seeing the cows on the farm.

But when I look at it now, I see how it is the ideal solution for us. My wife Winnie was working full-time as a teacher, and we were trying to buy up some free time for ourselves and our children.