Waterford dairy farmer, Sean Nolan, provides an insight into his enterprise, calving and how the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder benefitted his calf rearing and feeding operation.
Sean Nolan operates a 280-cow dairy herd in Butlerstown, Co. Waterford, “I milk 280 high EBI dairy cows, two-thirds British Friesian, one-third Holstein Friesian. We calve in both spring and autumn, calving approximately 35% of the herd in the autumn as we supply liquid milk.”
“We would calve over 300 cows and heifers most years. We start calving on February 10th but calve all-year-around essentially. We just keep the replacement heifer calves and sell off the rest at about 6 weeks. We would have a lot of the same customers every year,” said Sean.
Automatic calf feeder
In 2018, Sean installed a JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder in his purpose-built calf shed.
In 2018, I came across the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder at the National Ploughing Championships. The company was launching the innovation at its JFC Agri tent.
“When I saw the machine, I knew it was what I had been looking for. I decided to purchase the machine for three main reasons; Firstly, I felt that it looked like a very tidy, easy kept machine. The second reason was the fact that the machine can feed four calves at any one time. It’s the biggest plus I feel that the machine has.”
“No matter what, once the calf comes to the feeder, the feeder has milk there. It doesn’t have to wait; it doesn’t have to turn around and come back. There’s no messing around. It has the biggest capacity to feed calves quickly.”
“The third point is that for whatever reason, if the machine ran out of milk replacer or the power went, because of the four stations, the backlog would be easily cleared as there are four stations on the go,” Sean explained.
The JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder feeds and monitors up to 140 calves individually. The control unit is complete with an innovative touch screen display, dual hoppers and mixing bowls.
Calf rearing made easy – the benefits
Since installing the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder, Sean has seen several very positive benefits when it comes to calf rearing and feeding.
- Equal feeding of calves
Sean feels that competition between calves at feeding time has been removed. “All calves receive the same amount of milk, no matter how quickly or slowly that they drink their milk. There’s no mad rush, the calves can come and go as they please,” said Sean.
2. Personalised nutrition plan
The JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder allows Sean to design and implement a nutrition plan for his herd that will allow him to meet the targets that he has set on the farm. “You can design a programme that best suits what you want to achieve. You are then safe in the knowledge that the calves will be where you want them to be at weaning,” said Sean.
3. Saving time and removing the physical labour from calf rearing
Thirdly, Sean admits that the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder has significantly reduced the amount of labour needed to feed and look after the calves, “I was employing a person to feed the calves, whereas now I can look after the calves during the day when it’s quieter.”
“I’m definitely saving two hours per day in paid labour, but there is still some work to be done filling the hopper and managing calf performance. The JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder has significantly benefitted my system of calving.“
“It has taken all of the physical work out offending calves and you’re just left with management. You only have to spend a much smaller amount of time monitoring calf performance.”
4. Simplified problem identification and ease of use
“If you have a calf that’s not after drinking its full allocation, the machine notifies you. You see a red flag if the calf hasn’t drank, which is very handy and means you can see if a problem is about to arise before it does become a problem. It’s also a very simple machine to use.“
“My 11-year-old daughter is able to use the machine and see if any calves aren’t getting their milk. If you can use a smartphone, then you’ll have no trouble using the machine,” Sean explained.
5. Calf quality and weaning
“The quality of the calves is much better. It takes all the stress out of weaning for the calf as it’s very gradual. It definitely takes all the stress out of weaning. It gives the calf a great chance to build up the amount of ration it’s taking in before its milk supply is withdrawn,” said Sean.
Before vs after comparison
Before purchasing the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder, Sean used the JFC Agri milk cart. “We used to have the calves in pens of 10 initially and then larger groups and bring the milk cart to each of the pens to feed the calves.”
“We would keep the smaller pens for the younger calves. It worked well for us, but we wanted to find a system that would reduce the time and labour needed to feed the calves. The time it took and the labour was too much. Our farm is on a hill, so it was also heavy pushing the cart up the hill,” said Sean.
“For me, one of the biggest motives for installing the automatic calf feeder was to reduce the amount of time and labour needed to look after and feed the calves. A lot of work has to be done on the farm between 06.30 am, and 09.00 am and between 03.30 pm and 06.00 pm.”
“When we installed the automatic calf feeder, it meant that I could give a look at the feeder first thing, milk the cows, get the breakfast and head back to the calves again when things quieted down to see if there were any notifications on the machine if calves didn’t drink.”
“I’d also come back in the middle of the day when things were quieter to go through the information fully. With the milk cart, you couldn’t see what calves were drinking and the ones that weren’t. The automatic calf feeder makes the whole process completely transparent,” Sean admitted.
JFC customer support
Damian Concannon is Sean’s JFC Agri point of contact, “The help from the lads in JFC Agri has been brilliant, and the back-up service has never let me down.”
“In the first year, I could call the lads if I was unsure of anything and they could help me over the phone. My only concern when I was buying the machine was that I’m based in Waterford, the lads are based in Galway.”
“The lads assured me that there would be a constant and quick response if I ever needed it. They have proven themselves right, which gives me massive reassurance. They have specialists based all around the country, so they are always nearby if needed,” said Sean.
Well-priced product for calf rearing
Taking all into consideration, Sean believes that the JFC Agri Evolution S4 automatic calf feeder is a well-priced product. “Since installing the automatic calf feeder I have reduced the time and labour needed to feed the calves, improved my ability to monitor calf performance and remove the stress from weaning for the calves. It’s been a very worthwhile investment,” said Sean.
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