David Sheehy's Dairy Farm
Read about why David Sheehy, Cork, switched to Flogas for a hot water solution in his dairy farm
Introduction
David Sheehy is a well-established dairy farmer in Baltimore, Co. Cork. He inherited Highacres farm with its 8-unit milking parlour from his father in 1997 and operates it alongside his own company, Boveq Scanning Services. It provides ultrasound scanning, pregnancy diagnosis and other diagnostic scanning to over 17,000 cows a year throughout Cork.
The Challenge
Highacres farm milks around 60 Holstein Friesian cows with calving in Spring and Autumn. Between his busy farm and his thriving business, having a reliable supply of hot water was vital for effective cleaning as well as controlling the Total Bacteria Count (TBC). However, the farm’s existing electric hot water heating unit was struggling to reach the required 80⁰C temperature and this was having a knock-on effect in terms of hot water storage and costs. With a 4,000 litre milk storage tank and an 8-unit West Falia milking parlour that was being upgraded to a 10-unit to look after, David badly needed a solution to his hot water dilemma.
The Flogas solution
At the annual Millstreet National Dairy Show, David met Ian Barry, the Flogas sales representative for Cork and was introduced to the Flogas solution for dairy farms, which uses Andrews FastFlo water heaters to produce up to 12 litres of hot water at 37-80oC per minute. The auto ignition system eliminates running and storage costs when idle, so the farm only pays for the hot water that is used. The Andrews FastFlo heaters would also prove ideal during calving season, as its precise temperature control meant that their milk could be heated up quickly and easily. After further research and a farm visit by Ian, he decided to go ahead and make the change.
Seamless Changeover Process
A Flogas LPG tank was installed near the milking parlour on a concrete base. A Flogas RGI registered installer connected the tank to a single Andrews FASTflo 56kw heater sited on the parlour wall alongside an indoor temperature control panel. The entire process took about a day with no disruption to the farm’s daily activities. David said ‘Having hot water whenever I need has saved me a huge amount of time and the temperature control panel is very easy to use. The installation was very straightforward and there were no interruptions at all.”
Boveq Scanning Services
Alongside milking his 60-strong herd, David runs Boveq Scanning Services, providing ultrasound scanning, pregnancy diagnosis and other diagnostic scanning to over 17,000 cows a year throughout Cork. This includes checking for infections and cycling problems, with hot water being used to quickly wash down equipment after scanning.
Results
- Up to 12 litres of hot water at 80◦C a minute
- Unlimited supply of instant hot water, meaning there is no chance of running out
- Temperature controls from 37◦C- 80◦C via an easy to use control panel
- Hassle free installation with no disruption to day-to-day activities on the dairy farm
- No hot water storage costs