Serving dairy farmers in the Kerry region, Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment Ltd is one of the leading DeLaval dealers in the country. Sales manager Derek O’Brien explains more.

DeLaval is a world leader in the dairy farming industry, providing integrated milking solutions designed to improve dairy farmers’ production, animal welfare and overall quality of life. The company develops, manufactures and markets equipment and complete systems for milk production and animal husbandry worldwide. Service and sales of a wide range of accessories are also key aspects of DeLaval’s operations.

The company supplies highly efficient system solutions for milking, herd management, animal traffic control, feeding, cooling, manure handling, ventilation and energy recovery.

Flying the flag for DeLaval in Co. Kerry is Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment Ltd. Operating out of Tralee (beside the Kingdom Co-Op Livestock Mart), the company caters for all of its customer’s dairy requirements. Along with milking equipment, it supplies automatic yard scrapers, cow comfort and slat mats, power washers and a range of premium quality dairy detergents and teat dips.

“We install an average of 20 milking parlours a year, but this year we expect that figure to be closer to 30,” Derek says.

“At the moment, we’re putting in a new 50-point Rotary PR2250 system for Leo and John Joe O’Connor here in Tralee. We’re installing a lot of Robots, while there is a big demand for DeLaval milk tanks and feeding systems also. We sell between 30 and 40 milk tanks a year.

“We have many good customers throughout Kerry who we work closely with to ensure they can optimise their milk production and cows’ well-being. We pride ourselves on our ability to meet and exceed their requirements on quality, productivity and safety. DeLaval design, manufacture and supply integrated milking solutions with the needs of dairy farmers in mind.

“We’re here 24/7, 365 days a year for our customers.”

Many dairy farmers are upgrading to automatic machines which dramatically reduce the manual labour demands involved with milking. The DeLaval VMS milking robots are renowned for their operating efficiency as well as their robust, around the clock performance. What is most impressive is that they enable the farmer to harvest up to 3,000 litres of milk per day per robot and come as standard with four quarter milking mastitis detection (MDi) milking analysis technology, among other things.

Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment Ltd employs a highly-skilled and experienced team of milking machine technicians and fitters who cover the whole of Co. Kerry. Eddie Slattery is joined by his son and technical director Tommie (Killarney), Derek O’Brien (Ballymacelligott), Joseph Diggins (Causeway), Robert Bower (Killarney), Paudie O’Callaghan (Rathmore), Kevin O’Sullivan (Castleisland), Declan O’Callaghan (Causeway), Mike O’Connor (Ballyduff) and Richard O’Mahony (Ballyheigue).

“Our technicians are just a phone call away from our customers,” Derek points out.

“They are highly-trained and accredited. They cover everything from installation of a new milking parlour to preventative maintenance programs and emergency repairs. The importance of having your equipment serviced twice annually cannot be stressed enough. A well-maintained milking parlour can save a farmer a lot of hassle and expense.

“We run a fleet of vans and we’ve a mobile shop on the road too which calls to all our customers on a regular basis.”

Eddie has been in the dairy and refrigeration business since 1972 when he joined Blennerhasset Brothers in Tralee. At the time, the Blennerhassets were main Alfa Laval (now DeLaval) dealers for Co. Kerry. Two years later, Eddie joined Alfa Laval and spent seven years with them, initially in servicing before working in sales.

That led to him setting up his own business, which saw him installing new milking parlours and servicing DeLaval milking systems and bulk tanks for Kerry Co-Op. Since then, Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment Ltd has earned a glowing reputation for its outstanding service to dairy farmers across the Kingdom.

“Our business has grown hugely down through the years and is continuing to go from strength to strength. Eddie has been working with DeLaval for over 45 years and is regarded as one of their top dealers in Ireland. We experienced a surge in business after the EU milk quotas were abolished in 2015, but milk prices haven’t been great, and this combined with the uncertainty caused by Brexit, means there will be plenty of challenges ahead. But we are determined to meet them head on,” Derek adds.

DeLaval’s goal is to reduce the environmental footprint of farms, while improving milk production, farm profitability and the well-being of the people and animals involved. DeLaval believes the goal of Sustainable Dairy Farming can be achieved by supporting dairy farmers with smart technology and services to continuously increase resource efficiency on farms. To put it another way, DeLaval support them to do more with less.

“We’re proud to represent DeLaval in Kerry and are committed to providing our customers with the best equipment and service there is. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients for their continued support and our staff for their dedication and excellence,” the affable sales manager concludes.

Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment Ltd

Unit D Mart Yard,

Ard na Sidhe,

Carrigeendaniel,

Tralee,

Co. Kerry.

Telephone: 066 711 8800

Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 3, May 2018

Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Equipment