Club Vice President Derick Woods meets David Laughlin with his wife Ann and son Andrew, while Graham Kane (L) looks on.

Coleraine Probus visit Culmore Organic Farm

A little over a year ago* the club was pleased to welcome David Laughlin, who gave a remarkable account of working on his family farm - Culmore Organic Farm, near to Kilrea. Some members (well, your WebEd anyway) thought some of David's talk was a bit hard to believe - for instance, Cows that milked themselves! With this in mind, our Speakers Committee Chair (Des Moore) arranged for club members to visit Culmore Farm for a special club trip, as an end of spring 'member's morning out'. And what an interesting, educational and enjoyable visit this was!

A few things to remember…

David welcomed the members to his home, reminding everyone that this was a farm, so 'wellies' or stout walking shoes would be advisable - fortunately, members came along prepared.

Our first port of call was the much anticipated automatic milking parlour. David explained that his computer controlled, fully automatic and fascinating to watch milking machine - the Lely Astronaut, had been installed for about 11 years to date. The milker is working 24/7 for 52 weeks of the year, with only a few short maintenance breaks. Originally David had planed for his (very large) original investment to be paid off over a ten-year period. He surprised us all by saying that this wasn't the case, it had taken considerably less time than expected.

Getting ready for action…

…and there it all goes!

The early repayment was due to a number of factors. First, the Lely is far more hygienic to use than 'hand milking', its cleaning and sterilising routine has reduced the incidence of Mastitis by two thirds of his original (and seemingly through) human hand cleaning methods for the udder and teats. Therefore, there is far less milk wastage and more healthy cows. The cows are also healthier as they can come in for milking when they want to, not when the traditionally scheduled twice a day system is used. There is also less stress on the cows udder this way. The Lely is more efficient at milking, which has all led to David reducing his heard size, while retaining the milk quantity and its totally organic quality.

The ladies take a break

Members could hardly believe their ears and eyes, and although this all looked and sounded so easy, the big question had to be asked - 'How long does it take to train the cows to come into the parlour, queue up for milking, walk into the machine, stand still(ish!) and then stroll of back to the field or byre?' - just as the members had witnessed. The reply David gave, along with the added observations his long time experience given him, was even more surprising. 'On average about 10 days. Some cows take a little longer, others can do it on the second or third day'. David then went on to say the cows were, in general, far more intelligent than often supposed. The herd also worked on a fairly strict and complicated 'pecking order' of priority / seniority. For instance, several cows could be queuing for their 'turn' on the Lely milker, when another cow would walk into the 'waiting area' and take a place at the head of the queue, with the other cows moving back to let her in. This would only happen for specific cows, clearly for the 'Alpha Male - sorry, Heifer'.

'Are you talking about me?'

Another innovative and financially sound 'investment' David made, was the purchase some years ago of a second-hand wind turbine. This came all the way from Denmark, and was shipped over to Belfast. The giant tower, blades and all the turbine control parts were then lorry loaded and transported to Kilrea for erecting on Culmore Farm (how that all got along the narrow country roads to the farm, is a marvel all on its own!). The turbine now powers both the milking parlour and the house, as well as putting a small amount back into the national grid. The purchase price of the turbine and the assembly has also been covered by the savings it has generated.

Deep in discussion, 'How DID David get this from Denmark to Kilrea?'

Culmore Farm, David reminded us, was not only a dairy farm; they also produced a range of vegetables, potatoes and apples. These too are also 100% organic, and that brought along additional problems to ensure the crops were consistently good and pest free - no chemical spraying at all. This type of farming is very labour intensive (and therefore 'expensive'), as well as being hard, back breaking work - there is a LOT of weeding that all has to be done by hand. It is why shoppers complain about having to pay more for any organic produce. However, David is keeping an eye on how technology can help in this area of specialised farming. David was pleased to tell the (incredulous) club members, that in Australia a 'weeding robot' is being developed and tested. Currently the ground crawling weeder can be guided by GPS to the correct field, can work along rows of vegetables (say, Carrots) and distinguish between the young sprouting veg and weeds that may hinder the growth. Further, it can distinguish between harmful insects, slugs, caterpillars etc, and the tiny insects, worms and the like that help the plant growth. David will be watching development carefully, and we may all be back to the farm in another couple of years to watch that new marvel in operation on David's 'Farm of the future'? - This is all so very far from listening to the old steam radio and the tales of Dan and Doris, everyday in "The Archers".

This looks a bit more like the sort of thing you would expect to see on a farm!

(A special 'Thank you' to Des for providing several of the Visit photos)

And a final "By the way", IF members would like to catch-up with what is happening in Ambridge this week, 'Click' on the BBC logo below - this will open in a new window).

And at the end of the club visit…

Sadly, we didn't have time to ask David where this fitted in to the scheme of things - express deliveries perhaps?

For a look at some more photos from our Farm visit, just 'Click' the Farm logo below.

NOTE: *David's original talk about Culmore Farm was on Tuesday 13th February 2018 - If you would like too refresh your memory of this talk in our Archives, just 'Click' The Blue, underlined date link (this will open in a new window).

To keep up to date with all things 'Culmore Farm' wise, you should 'Click' the Organic logo below (this will open in a new window).