CENSORTEC NEDAP / ALFCO MEATH DAIRY FARM

Neil and John Burke milk 500 cows in Skyrne, Co. Meath, in a spring calving system. The father and son pair, entered a partnership when Neil graduated from UCD in 2016.
‘We had installed the Alfco drafting gate to make picking out cows easier. We have an app for the Alfco drafting gate, and an app for Censortec Nedap Cow Control. Each morning at the start of milking, we can just tap a button on the app, and any cow that’s due for AI will be standing in the holding pen at the end of milking. We can pick out 30 cows by pressing one button!’ exclaims Neil. ‘The Alfco gate is a super gate has yet to make a mistake since we installed it, We also have been using Cormac Tags for the last few years, so the whole system is extremely reliable ; if a wrong cow is selected it’s down to a user error on our end, if we manually select the wrong cow to be picked out from the parlour. Each staff member has the apps installed on their phones. Our morning milker’s first job is to check the system and use the app to get all the relevant cows picked out. The labour it saves is huge, and there’s less stress on the cows too,’ continues Neil.
When it came to installing a system, Neil and John were swayed towards Censortec NEDAP cow Control for a few reasons.
‘We had already installed the Alfco gate, and the fact that the two integrated was definitely a big plus. However, outside of that, we had heard about the accuracy and the reliability of the system from a few friends. Regardless of the integration, I think the system is one of the best out there. We rely on the info we get, and it hasn’t let us down,’ contends Neil. ‘The Censortec team were really easy to deal with and came and had the system installed in half a day. If I ever had any questions, they were always at the end of the phone. They’re passionate about the product, and they wanted me to get the best from the system.’
“It is great to be able to Support Farmers like Neil & Johnny to simplify there system when it comes to drafting and Animal Monitoring” Donagh Crowley of Censortec. “If any farmer would like more information on the system you can give us a call on 066 9713900”