Nangkita Dairy Open Day 2024

On Thursday, 22 February, the Connor family welcomed the region to Nangkita Dairies to unveil their new voluntary robotic milking systems.

With 800 cows spread across two grazing robotic farms, the Connors are enthusiastic about the Lely milking systems. They operate 14 Lely robots in total: six milk 350 cows on a 200-hectare dry land milking platform, while eight attend to 450 cows on a 20-hectare area, 30% irrigated and 70% dry land. Both farms practice seasonal calving and employ voluntary milking using ABC grazing.

Jake Connor shared, “we wanted to create a sustainable business with a focus of less reliance on employed labour, and a more sustainable work life balance for managers/owners - enticing people to remain in the dairy industry long term”.

Since November 2021, the Connors have embraced robotic milking, installing their second robotic dairy in October 2023. They have expressed satisfaction with the positive impact the robots have had on both people and cows, witnessing a 10 percent increase in milk production and 12-week calving rate. Their cows have adapted well to voluntary milking and ABC grazing, enhancing pasture consumption and quality management. With a seasonal herd, they target 2.6 milking's per day in the first half of lactation and 2.3 in the second half.

Looking forward, the Connors are excited about the future of dairy farming and wouldn't revert to conventional methods.