Don't just take our word for it.........

We Believe in listening to our customers. Finding out their specific needs to help them obtain the right system or product. We work with, and for our customers, We always strive to give an open & "Honest" service. But as the heading says, don't just take our word for it.
Listed below are some case studies and testimonials from some of our customers. We would like to thank them for taking the time to take part in this for us and wish them well in the future.

Fullwood fulfilment for County Down farmer!
                                           
Dairy farming has been in the Steele family for four generations now. Today, ably assisted by his mother, father and brother Samuel, Thomas Steele now has ten years under his belt at the helm of this successful dairy venture, at Rowreagh Farm outside Newtownards.

The 600 acre farm is located on Northern Ireland’s eastern seaboard, in the fertile landscape that is County Down’s Ards Peninsula. The Steele’s already have expansion plans afoot to increase footfall to 500 from their current 375 strong herd. The herd is TMR fed with feed to yield in the parlour with concentrates.

Thomas also includes home grown forage on site as a way to manage the farm’s feed outgoings.

“The Ards has quite a lot of cows located in it. We also grow around 80 acres of cereals for feeding to the herd and the straw is also a valuable asset for bedding as arable farms are very scarce in the area. To feed the herd during the winter months about 90 areas of forage maize is grown in the open along with 1st cut silage. These two forages make up the basis for our milking herd.”

With an eye on future growth Thomas and Samuel decided to look at installing a new parlour. After a lengthy search, the family decided on Fullwood 60-point rotary. A new build on a greenfield site allowed more flexibility in the design phase and the installation began at the beginning of June 2009 and was completed by December 2009.

“We really needed a change from our old facilities as they had been on the go for the past 30 years. Also the old parlour was put in when our herd stood at 80 cows. With a 375 head count, it was starting to affect the performance with animals spending too long waiting to be milked.”

“It’s a life time commitment and not something to be taken light-heartedly. We looked at various options for approximately one year, travelling extensively within Northern Ireland and further afield to Southern Ireland, England, Germany and South Africa in our quest to research different installations.”

“After looking at different companies and parlours on the market Fullwood was the only one that could meet our needs. Technology has changed over the years and Fullwood has embraced this which will help with herd management, we opted for the Afifarm Herd management program provided by Fullwood, which gives a wide range of reports to high light cows with suspected ketosis, Activity, Conductivity and general health problems assisted by weight recording on every milking, also the Pedometer Plus records activity, Rest periods, restlessness & erratic behaviour. Also the local dealer is fantastic, with a wealth of knowledge and experience.”

Thomas believes the biggest saving of all afforded by the new parlour is one of the most precious commodities we can never have enough of – time!

“The greatest saving would have to be time. It used to take us 4.5 hrs to milk in our old parlour twice a day, with a total of 9hrs just milking! Since we started milking in the new parlour from we go in to start till we leave again is 2hrs, so just 4 hrs milking every day.”

“The actual milking process only takes about 1hour and 30 minutes. This is a lot easier on both the cows and operators. The cooling system for the milk also is saving us money. Before it used to be a couple of hours after milking before our milk was cooled but now it is cooled even before the plant has finished its wash cycle. The variable speed vacuum pump is also saving energy by only supplying vacuum on demand.”

Indeed the new system means reduced labour. While mum looks after the paperwork side of things, Thomas, his father and his brother, alongside two full time workers manage the parlour.

“One operative is foaming and wiping the cows, one puts the clusters on and one to check the cows and look after spraying when leaving the parlour.”

To complete the turnkey parlour the Steeles also installed a 30000 litre Packo Direct Expansion tank & 120,000 Kcal Packo Ice-builder. The tank incorporates the most up to date Packo technology as standard, such as the Dolphin Control panel, Oculos Monitoring system, & automatic dosing of detergents.  \

“Absolutely first class.” This is how Thomas rates Fullwood’s team on the ground, local dealer SM McKee Ltd.

“They have a brilliant track record for installations and service and this was one of the major deciding factors in going with Fullwood. Problems can arise but it’s nice to know that help is only a phone call away 24/7.”

“Regarding the installation I have nothing but praise for the McKee team. We like a nice neat tidy job but their work was way better than we’d have wanted it done. Things were done the awkward way just to make sure thing worked they way they should. Nothing was a bother to them even helping other tradesmen on site! The whole job is a credit to the team and the first night milking went with no hitches which says lot about the care they put into getting the installation right.”

When asked about the future of farming and his advice to others in the same dilemma, Thomas said:

“I believe dairy farming over the next few years will be very uncertain. It seems to take spells of highs and lows. The future of the dairy industry needs more young blood with determination and passion for the job. I feel it needs to be emphasized more as a career to the younger generation.”

Thomas believes as margins get tighter the only way to survive is to be as efficient as possible. Fullwood parlours affords farmers time to become more dairy-focused, treating cows as individuals and giving them the attention they deserve.

“I would have no hesitation in recommending Fullwood as an excellent company to work with. From the design team to the technical team in the factory, the salesman and installation team have all been a pleasure to work with. They are always looking to improve ideas and I think this is the key to a successful company nowadays. They take care of their customers and value their opinions and that means a lot at farm level. With good technical people, sales people and installation team Fullwood is hard to beat.”

Picture: Turnkey parlour solution for the Steele family farm:
(L-R) Samuel, William and Thomas Steele in their new parour.

(SCC) Somatic Cell Count Reduction

When Cork Farmer, Tim Lenihan decided it was time to update his parlor, he researched the market with three main priority points on his wish list. The new parlor should reduce somatic cell count, incorporate 2x2 pulsation and offer outstanding after sales back-up service. I am very happy to say that all 3 points have been fulfilled to my satisfaction

Two years down the line Tim is delighted with his purchase with no regrets: “The Fullwood system ticks all the boxes. I have more time, use less labour and I find the par lour is also very user friendly which also allows me to use other people to milk my cows when the need arises”

Built as an extension to the older housing of the third generation farm at Boherbue in County Cork, the machine is more than equipped to milk the 66 cow herd.  Now installed for almost two years at the 166 acre site, the transformed par lour, complete with Fullwood Sensomatic milk monitoring incorporating Flowrate automatic cluster removal, Stimulation alternate pulsation, Electronic automatic feeders and a Standalone dumpline preventing cross contamination. Tim was also very happy with the speed and professional installation starting in December 2007 and completing on 15 January 2008 by North Cork Dairy Services, Kanturk, Co.Cork

“Since the new plant was installed there has been a consistent and significant reduction in the incidents of Mastitis and somatic cell count. Cell count has reduced by between 40 & 50% with the only change on the farm being the installation new Fullwood milking machine.

As a third generation farmer, entering the job after leaving full-time study, Tim has been managing the farm since 2002. Progressive with an eye on practicalities, Tim knows quality can’t be compromised. His advice to farmers is, your cows are your most valuable asset on any Dairy Farm their “Health is your Wealth” and I have found that,

“The cows are certainly much more contented which leads to better productivity and less stress all round. Less veterinary bills too” since installing the Fullwood milking machine.
“Look at what Fullwood has to offer and you will find that comparison leaves no doubts!”

A new milking machine is a long term investment, Tim believes that you get what you pay for, I could have bought a cheaper machine but the benefit’s of paying a little more for the Fullwood plant with all of the extra’s included far exceeded the extra initial investment, certainly no regrets at all on this decision.

L-R Tim Linehan and brother Joseph in their parlour at Boherbue, County Cork.

Fullwood Name Speaks Volumes

The Fullwood name speaks volumes, according to Arklow farmer, James Kavanagh. The former IFA economist has been farming since 1985 and recently moved back to the home farm at Curranstown, just a few miles from Arklow. James has just installed a 20 unit Fullwood 240 Streamline automated milking parlour. His decision to opt for a new installation was based initially on the consolidation of his father’s farm and his own.

The Choice Was Clear

“My father is nearly 80 and still works the home farm. We knew our existing 6 unit parlours had seen better days. Since both of us had 100 cows a piece we decided it was time to consolidate. The present herd comprises of just over 180 cows. “James said.

Continuing

“With this in mind, I researched the market and soon discovered that every progressive farm business in the area had a Fullwood. I followed the advice of these farmers, all of whose opinion I respected and opted for Fullwood. My first sortie with Fullwood was 4 years ago when we purchased a new pulsation system, so we knew they were a reputable company. In practical terms when you are heading upwards toward 200 cows, it becomes impossible in terms of mental capacity to deal with the  day to day demands, without a first class system. The key is to put in place a good automated milking system with top drawer auto identification, feeding, milk recording, A.C.R.’s & segregation. This was made possible with Fullwood.”

Explaining:

The installation of the 240 Streamline is on the original parlour site. The old 1950’s housing was completely re-roofed and extended to include a slatted collection yard.

“The collecting area for the cows is slatted fore and aft and we find the cows enter smartly with good traffic flow and then back out through the segregation gate onto slats again. They are more contented and have taken to the new parlour very well.”
James said.

The delivery of the parlour in late July last year enabled a prompt installation process starting in August, which was ably undertaken by local Fullwood dealer, Joe Kilvarry. No time was lost with the parlour ready for business at the end of November, as James reveals:

“By December we were milking and I’ve had no regrets to date. Fullwood is a superb company with excellent after sales and advice when you need it.” Continuing “Our farm has been built on hard graft over the past 50 years and therefore we make sure we make the right choices; this decision was no exception.  We wanted a parlour we could rely on.”

The Fullwood Streamline has brought a great deal of positive change to the Kavanagh family. From a savings perspective, labour is now down from two to one. Polish man, Rafal Oczkowski manages the parlour, learning the ropes of this state-of-the-art system in just three months. His succinctly sums up the ease of use as: “It is so easy.”

Opportunity Cost

Time spent milking has also been greatly reduced. Previously, 200 cows took 4 hours to milk on 2 farms 6 miles apart. Now daily milking commences at 07.00 with a speedy finish at 08.45.

James said: “The opportunities  of this extra time the Fullwood system affords, while not meaning I can put my feet up, does mean I can get on with other jobs. It frees my time and I can rest assured it is doing the job properly.” Adding:

“Dairy hygiene has also become much more controllable. The auto wash facility has saved labour, time and increased efficiency & milk quality all round.  Another important change has been in the somatic cell count. This has been problematic over the years but thankfully, since the Fullwood installation we haven’t had any penalties. I know this is due to the excellent Crystal Herd Management System and the automated identification process which enables you to sort the problem before it costs you money. Equally problem cows needing attention or on antibiotics are automatically picked up with auto - I.D. It would  have been very difficult to train any operative who had never milked a cow 3 months ago  to be fully proficient & capable of managing a 200 cow herd without auto I. D.” said James. The Fullwood system manages this efficiently by isolating and diverting the affected animals.”

James sites the key element in the success of the plant to date as being the synergy offered by purchasing the complete Fullwood system.

“I feel the key aspect of my investment with Fullwood was the decision to go for full automation, which added about one-third to the cost of a basic no frills parlour. But it is this additional cost that gives you the keys to control & manage a larger herd from day one. If the decision was to buy a 200 H.P. tractor you would not consider looking at one with no frills. I expect that the additional investment costs of full automation will have a pay back period of less than 5 years in reducing labour costs, feed costs, coupled with improvements in milk yields & milk quality.”

 “Identification, recording, controlling & managing a growing herd of cows is the key to a successful future in dairying where the economics are now nail biting.”
“Cost control is the big issue particularly when it comes to expensive long term decisions on milking equipment. I was always told that a pound saved is as good as a pound earned any day. But if you don’t sow, it surely won’t grow!”

Turbulence Ahead

Looking towards the future, James feels there will be turbulence ahead.

“Irish dairy farmers are in a state of chaos not knowing whether to expand or quit the business. Numbers are predicted to halve by 2010. I do feel, however, that better opportunities will be there for the taking in years to come. I envisage there will be a greater influence from the emerging economies of South East Asia. This could then impact on world food supply and demand with an increase globally in base prices for dairy & meat products. I feel on the business side of things that it is essential to plan for the future and make the right decision when it comes to your parlour.”

L-R Local Fullwood dealer, Joe Gilvarry with farmer, James Kavanagh.