Category: Exhibitor News 2019

Craft Shapes Ireland is a family run business based on a family farm in Bunclody, 10 Miles from this years NPA site. Brain Child of husband and wife duo Melvin and Maria Porter the young business is to exhibit at the national ploughing for the first time this year.

“ We are so excited at the thoughts of our young business to have its very own stand at the ploughing this year” Maria Said. “It has been on the bucket list since we started this business as I have been attending the ploughing annually since I was a child” said Melvin. Growing up on a farm it has always been one of the highlights of our year, going to the ploughing and absorbing the electric atmosphere it has to offer, and now the fact that Maria and I are actually going to be exhibiting gives me goosebumps at the thoughts of it”

 

“Our business was launched at the beginning of 2016 when we spotted a niche in the market for Irish crafting shapes and blanks, I had been a crafter and wanted to buy Irish but couldn’t, Melvin has always been interested in working with wood so we both decided that if we cannot buy Irish then why not Supply Irish!… The rest is history!” Says Maria

 

Our business has developed since it was born and we have now extended our offering to Craft supplies such as, Paint, glue, embellishments, solid wooden boxes,  basically all you need to finish the crafting blanks into masterpieces. As a crafter herself Maria also creates finished gifts too.

 

What was the motivation to base our business on the family farm? “Well like with all generations there is the matter of succession on the farm, and that had a part to play in it” Melvin said “Being small farmers we knew we would need to supplement our income but also be available to help on the farm as and when we were needed, we also have a young family and to have support near us to help with the children was a fundamental need when getting a business off the ground…as they say It takes a village!”

 

Our stand at the ploughing Championships is definitely the highlight of our year so far, we cannot wait to meet our customers and show new customers what this local family business is made of! This year we are launching our Christmas gift collection at the show to include solid wood Christmas eve boxes, Santa trays and family Christmas signs. We also have a brand new, never seen before selection of children’s door and wall plaques that can be personalised on the day ready to go to their new home.

 

We are so excited and cannot wait to see you there! The Hub tent, Unit 53. IF you cant make the ploughing you can find us at www.craftshapesireland.ie

This year we do have a new SCHURR cow-brush with SOLAR PANEL with us!

New product for Ireland – see pics attached.

Best cow-comfort with “GREEN” power for Irish farmers.

It’s ideal for irish farmers to help to increase the milk performance of their irish cows!

 

For further information please contact me.

Or come to our booth #Block 2 #Row no. 1 #Stand no. 21

“Gorteade Cow Care”

Former Olympian Jamie Costin admits to being a bit nervous about the logistics of installing a new rotary milking machine to replace his tired herringbone system.

 

“It was a big undertaking, I had electricians, plumbers and all sorts around our farm. I’m not a building site manager but I just took a lot of advice and learned on the job,” Jamie said.

 

“In the end the installation was done efficiently and quickly, so I was happy.”

 

The foundation for Jamie’s new shed and 54-bail Orbit Concrete Rotary Platform, from Waikato Milking Systems in New Zealand, was set in February 2019.

 

The completed dairy parlour, at his County Waterford property in south-east Ireland, was commission in June, 2019.

 

Like other farmers in Ireland, the abolition of milking quotas opened the doors for Costin to increase his herd.

 

“We were milking about 150 cows on a 20-unit herringbone but we slowly moved our heard up to 350 cows after the quotas finished.

 

“I was milking three or more hours in the morning and then three hours in the evening, without any feeders in the parlour.

 

“It was getting tough so I knew things had to change and I started researching what the options were.”

 

Jamie thought about expanding his existing herringbone but ideally wanted to be in a situation where he could run the milking parlour by himself, if needed.

 

“I started researching rotary platforms. I had no experience working with them so I decided to educate myself and took a look at other farms that were using them.

 

“I spent a couple of months in the spring actually milking on other farms’ rotaries to see what it was like for myself.

 

“I was just impressed with the efficiency and the number of cows that you could milk on a rotary platform, in a short time.”

 

It was for that reason Jamie decided to select a rotary parlour and took some advice from Waikato Milking Systems European Sales Manager Gillian Fullerton-Smith.

 

“The installation was a big undertaking but it was good to have someone like Gillian to work with, who was able to take me through the process.”

 

Rotary parlour technology is likely to be a talking about at the Irish Ploughing Championships in September.

 

The Waikato Milking Systems team will be there, among other topics, to talk up the advantages of switching over to rotary machines to manage larger herds.

 

Jamie’s Orbit rotary has allowed him to cut down each milking session from about 3.5 hours to an hour and 10 minutes.

 

He said the farm started using the new rotary in June 2019.

 

He was very selective when it came to adding technology to the new parlour.

 

“Again, I tried to educate myself around the options, with the aim of making it a one-man operation.”

 

He selected three options, including BailGate Control, to help him manage the animals on the platform; SmartSPRAY to ensure the health of the cows’ teats, and ECRs, to reduce time removing the cups.

 

“Those are the three things I needed to be able to run the parlour by myself.

 

“I don’t need the other technology options yet but I know that somewhere down the road I can add on, that should be easy.”

 

Jamie said it took a bit of work to get the herd used to the rotary platform the first time.

 

“They’ve got their own pecking order and it took a few days for them to get used to the rotary.

 

“Once they got a sniff of the feed in the parlour, it was easy.

 

“Now the cows are walking onto the rotary platform themselves, doing their laps and walking off. They’re really happy.”

 

Jamie said there was plenty of interest in his Orbit rotary during the first month of its operation.

 

“There will be plenty of farmers like us, who are milking on their 24-30-unit herringbone, and looking for something more efficient.

 

“There are a lot of farmers growing their herd up to 300 or more, and they’re converting to a rotary to make milking easier.”

 

Jamie said his work with Gillian Fullerton-Smith during the installation showed there was keen interest from others in the Waikato rotary platforms.

 

“I know that Gillian has been very busy meeting with other customers. There are others looking to move to rotaries who are about six months behind us, in their planning process.”

 

Jamie said switching milking platforms can be an expensive move but his advice to other farmers is to plan correctly and “know what you want first”.

 

“I know it’s not for everyone, there is a margin of gain. If you have 200-250 cows you might be better off with a Herringbone but for us, a rotary suits us well.

 

“I wouldn’t rule out increasing our herd in the future, that’s why I went with a 54-bail rotary system. I’ll be able to get more cows through, it’ll be more efficient.

 

“One person can operate the machine, milking the cows quickly, without being under so much pressure.”

 

Jamie represented Ireland at the Olympics, European and World Championship level in athletics (walk racing), for more than a decade before returning to the family farm.

 

“That (athletics) was my fulltime occupation from about 1998 to 2012. I spent a lot of time in New Zealand, in Hamilton and Auckland, training during the summer there.

 

“It was a different experience but one which I’ve been able to take into farming because sport is a high level activity where you have to plan well and have an optimistic attitude.

 

“So I think that’s helped me a lot with planning, setting goals and achieving on the farm.”

 

Jamie said he was happy to be able to take over the family farm from his father when he finished his athletics career. He has three workers helping in the spring and two during the rest of the year.

 

“My father is retired now. I appreciate the encouragement he gave me and the way he accepted me, when I came home to take over the family farm.”

AgriNet, also known as IFC is celebrating 25 years in the agricultural I.T industry this year. AgriNet prides its self in keeping ahead of the curve when it comes to real–time herd and cash flow management, as well as Grassland management for international clients.

The National Ploughing Championships is the ideal place to launch new and innovative products and services and this is where HerdApp was launched back in 2017.  Two years on – HerdApp is the market leading software app for recording health data nationwide.  

AgriNet contribution to total ICBF health recording in 2018:

• 69% Mastitis
• 51% Lameness

Profitability, Efficiency & Labour Saving are all topics that are discussed daily on farms all over the Country. HerdApp ticks all these boxes and with end result beingSustainability. The information flow to and from HerdApp is of a whole new standard when compared to other products on the market – it takes information from ICBF, AIM & Co-Ops and relates this data back to the farmer in a real time, straightforward manner. This ensures better decision making on farm with all information available and at the touch of a button.

The National Ploughing Championships 2019 will see the announcement of a brand new partnership with Lakeland Dairies & HerdApp, where Lakeland suppliers can now view their milk tank data automatically. Suppliers of other Co-Ops can enter their data manually for now, but every farmer that milk records their herd can view their results free of charge.

Selective Dry Cow therapy and the use of antibiotics is extremely topical at the moment and HerdApp automatically takes information such as SCC from Milk recording results and individual cases of mastitis recorded in the herd and generates a report showing cows that are eligible for SDCT. This tool alone showcases HerdApp’s innovative and sustainable approach to farming in Ireland.

AgriNet will showcase their two software products – Cashminder&HerdAppat this year’s Innovation tent – demonstrating how simple & straightforward sustainable farming can be – if you use the right tools.