We took over the farm next door at the start of the 2022/23 season and called Peter in September at the end of our tethers about dealing with the 30 aside cowshed with ACR’s.

Lack of cow flow (well no flow at all, we had to have someone out in the yard pushing the cows in), cows especially heifers constantly kicking the cups off, nervous kicky cows, having to hose every row, and mastitis issues.

We had to have 4 people in the shed during milking just to get it done which was ridiculous.

It was an extraordinarily stressful time and we were seriously thinking of giving up farming due to the difficulties we were having just trying to milk the cows every day. Everyone we spoke to said it was just new farm problems and the cows would settle, but half the cows were our own original herd who had been very quiet up until that point and they were just getting worse. We knew there had to be something wrong.

Peter arrived within two days and immediately found two major problems. Serious stray electricity leakage from our electric fence unit, and interestingly the cup removers in themselves were emitting stray voltage from their flow sensors causing the cows to kick the cups off. We immediately moved the electric fence unit further away and Peter made bonding wires on-site to connect to the ACR’s. He was at the shed for 6 hours sorting everything out.

He provided a detailed report with his findings and the cost was a fraction of what we were expecting.

After 4 milkings we didn’t even have to use the backing bars or backing gate until the last row, the cows WANT to be milked now with no cups kicked off and hardly any crap to hose away. We’ve shaved an hour off our mikings with two less people needed. The cows, us, and staff are far more relaxed leading to far more milk production and a happier environment for everyone. Our Somatic Cell Count dropped incredibly, consistently sitting at around 65,000 now.

We think it should be mandatory for Peter to visit cowsheds every few years to check what’s going on. It’s a Health and Safety as well as an Animal Welfare issue, not to mention the mental stress stray electricity in cowsheds can cause.

We wonder how many cows live their whole lives in an uncomfortable environment like that, without their owners/managers/staff realizing how common this issue is?

There is a simple solution if you’re having problems in your cowshed, get Peter out to check!

Peter Dewes definitely saved our dairy farming career.

 

Jenny Buckley and Dave van den Beuken - 50/50 Sharemilkers

Jaydee Farm Ltd

Tauwhare, Cambridge

0276400520