“It starts with a dream. We wondered what it would be like to make the switch”
– Matt Byrnes, Owner, 5-M Dairy
For Matt Byrnes and his wife Michelle, what started as a dream quickly became a reality through a switch to Lely automated dairy systems and the support of their local Lely Center, Precision Dairy Equipment. Their present-day operation, 5-M Dairy, sits in the northeastern Iowa community of Waukon, but was originally owned by Matt’s parents who purchased the farm in 1972. At the time, it was run as a traditional family farm with dairy, beef and hog operations. The dairy herd was sold in 1996 while Matt was at Kirkwood Community College pursuing a degree in agribusiness. Returning to the farm in 1998 to pursue a future in dairy, Matt rented buildings and purchased feed from his parents to accommodate his 60-head herd, which he milked in a double-4 herringbone parlor.
2002 was a banner year for Matt, encompassing the purchase of his family farm and meeting his future wife Michelle whom he would marry the next year in August of 2003. The pace of life at 5-M Dairy accelerated in the form of a growing farm and a growing family. In 2006, they remodeled their milking parlor, doubling capacity by converting it to a double-8 herringbone, also doubling their herd to 120 head. In 2014 they built a new barn and purchased an additional herd from a nearby couple who was retiring from the dairy industry, bringing them to roughly 170 head.
In 2021 they started to plan for their next phase, which revolved around solving for a reduction in labor and production increases. They recognized that with their three boys (now 19, 17, and 14) soon to move on from the farm, their available labor would be dramatically reduced. Additionally, Matt says, “We were in the parlor for six-to-seven hours every day. We’re in our mid-to-late 40s, and we could start feeling it in our bodies. Honestly, we were getting burnt out with the hours of physically milking the cows. Plus, our kids were always involved in activities at school, and we felt like we were constantly juggling, hoping we could find help.”
That help arrived in the form of a robot from their local Lely Center. Matt and Michelle were already familiar with Precision Dairy Equipment, having purchased traditional equipment from them during their 2014 build out. When they approached PDE Sales Manager Leah Lange with their concerns and desires, she quickly and confidently got them started on a journey toward automation. Leah took the Byrnes on a tour of Lely dairies which approximated their own in terms of layout, scope and herd size. “With the internet and social media, we read articles and watched videos. We liked the free flow system Lely has. We like that parts were made in Pella, Iowa, and if we had an issue, we wouldn’t have to wait a long time for parts. We also really liked PDE, Leah, and heard great things,” says Matt. “The experience with Leah was amazing.”
“It wasn’t hard to make the Lely decision."
With the decision made to retrofit three Lely Astronaut A5 robotic milking systems into their existing barn, construction began in April of 2023, with the robots coming online just three months later, on August 1, 2023. Since then, the results have been nothing short of impressive. “I’ll be honest,” Matt said, “That’s probably the area that has exceeded our expectations quicker than we expected. We’re seeing a 12-to-16-pound increase in milk production and our components have stayed right there, too. Not only are the cows comfortable but they’re coming to the robots and milking really, really well.” The Byrnes attribute the ease of startup to their team at PDE who are, “Always willing to help. They want you to succeed as much as you do,” according to the Byrnes. The PDE team helped 5-M Dairy get ready for startup with a full week pre-training to get the herd acclimated, followed by three weeks of close observation.
Reflecting on the experience of switching to milking robots from traditional equipment, Matt offered, “It wasn’t hard to make the Lely decision. To be successful in the dairy industry, you must do many little things better. Before, we’d spend six-to-seven hours in the parlor, then go do other things. Now we have more time to manage cows and do a better job of managing.” Michelle added, “It‘s an investment, but it was good for our future. Our bodies weren’t going to take the situation much longer and we’d have never gotten 12-to-16 more pounds. For all around lifestyle, it was the best for us.”