Michael and Kevin Fagan milk 127 cows through two Lely A4 robotic milking machines alongside Lough Ree in Glasson, County Westmeath.
Michael had always run a beef and sheep business while working full time off the farm, but in 2014 he decided to make the big move and move into dairy.
A single A4 Lely was then installed from the Lely Center in Mullingar, and began milking 45 cows.
At the same time, Kevin was sitting on his leaving certificate, but had a desire to return to the farm.
After abolishing quotas, the Fagans expanded the size of their herd, took on more land, and in 2019 installed their second robot, Lely A4.
They climbed to a herd of 140 cows, but underwent a “difficult cull” which brought the herd back to 127 head with a stronger focus on production.
Farm performance
The automated system allows Kevin time to work off the farm as a teacher, but it also helps them focus more on learning about their cows and breeding studs, as well as other aspects such as grassland management.
This focus has allowed them to have a spring-calving British Friesian herd producing 535kg of milk solids (MS) per cow in 2025 at 4.65% fat and 3.78% protein, for 1.2 tonnes of meal.
This means that after just 11 years of establishing the herd, they are in the top 15% of suppliers to the Aurivo cooperative in terms of solids.
The herd, which has an Economic Breeding Index (EBI) of €163, also maintains a calving period of 385 days with a six-week calving rate of 84%.
In 2025, average somatic cell count (SCC) levels for the year were 172,000 cells/ml, with 10 cows treated for mastitis, and 33% of the herd only receiving seals at dry.
When it comes to grass, fajans are stored at a rate of 2.7 lo/ha, and they grew by 12 tons of dry matter (DM)/ha in 2025.
John McCabe, Teagasc-Aurivo joint program advisor, pointed out that when you look at herd production versus feed, the Fagans get nearly 2kg more grass per cow than the Aurivo average, which makes a big difference to the farm’s profitability.
Lily robots
The Fagans hosted a tour of the farm alongside Lely Center Mullingar and Aurivo recently to demonstrate how the system works for them.
They run an ‘ABC’ grazing system thanks to the three-way Lely Grazeway gate, where cows walk a maximum distance of 950 metres.
The ‘ABC’ system is designed around the farm to allow three milkings per day.
For example, Building A opens at 2:00 a.m. and has 40% of the daily grass allocated to cows.
Building B will then open at 10:00 AM with another 40% availability, while Building C will open at 6:00 PM with 20% availability.
After a period of time in each block, the cows will individually return to the shed where they enter the “Gate of No Return”.
They will not be able to leave the shed through the Grazeway gate until after they have been milked.
Farmers using this system will have to remove fences: for example; The fences were moved at “C” and “A” while the cows were at “B” during the day.
However, labor is reduced significantly, considering that the milking process takes between two and four hours per day if not more on traditional farms.
The Fagans have a service contract with Lely, and have averaged 2.8 calls per robot per year for the past five years.
Brushes on the robot clean each teat before applying the kits, washing the brushes with parasitic acid between each cow.
The robot uses laser technology to spray before and after the teat, and can also determine when to milk each quarter to ensure cows are not under- or over-milked.
The same technique is used to identify empty quadrants.
Every milking is logged, allowing Fagan to get up-to-date SCC readings, milking times, production, and more to make immediate, informed decisions.
A system has been installed whereby milk can be pumped into separate buckets directly from the robot, allowing each calf to have access to its mother’s milk, and helping to stop the spread of diseases such as Johne’s disease, as well as an emptying bucket for antibiotic milk.
The parlor is also equipped with a feeding system for its production, allowing the Fagans to individually choose how much feed each cow gets.
According to Lilly, the average cost of operating a robot is €6,970 per year plus VAT, while electricity costs around €23.10 per day on a two-robot farm (2024 figures).
