Meet Glen!
Growing up on his parents’ Jersey Stud dairy farm in Drouin South, Glen ‘Mono’ Monson just didn’t see himself milking cows seven days a week. But after embarking on an apprenticeship in cabinet making and establishing a successful career in the field, he decided he needed a change - and found his way back to the dairy industry.
Glen is now a calf feeding and calf rearing specialist, in addition to handling customer care and sales for calf feeders and calf nutrition products at Lely Center Gippsland.
Glen is now a calf feeding and calf rearing specialist, in addition to handling customer care and sales for calf feeders and calf nutrition products at Lely Center Gippsland.
“Because I grew up on a dairy farm and it was a good lifestyle, it was great to get back and be involved in the industry in a different way”, says Glen. Coincidentally, another local dairy farmer purchased my parents’ property and it now has two Lely robots on it.”
With Glen now focusing his attention on calf feeding, his Lely colleagues tell us he’s become somewhat of a guru on the topic. “Glen’s known for it throughout the area now”, Lely Center Gippsland Manager Jordan says. “You think calf feeding, you think Glen!”
“Calf rearing is turning into a bit of a passion of mine” says Glen. “I like getting out on farms, seeing the calf rearing differences from farm to farm. Making sure calves are being fed as they should be. You’re always learning.”
Optimising the calf rearing process to develop quality milkers can be a time consuming process for farmers, Glen explains. “People don’t realise the time and effort that farmers put into rearing a calf from birth to being a milker. The hours and the processes it takes. Then multiply that by how many animals they keep.
“I enjoy having a satisfied farmer at the end of an install. Freeing up their time, and seeing calves feeding more like a natural environment, instead of being fed five litres once a day because that’s all the farmer has time to do, when that’s not really what a calf needs.
“Hearing recent comments like ‘I don’t know why we didn’t do this years ago’ and ‘It’s great, all the calves have had at least one feed by the time I get to the shed in the morning’, that’s the reward for me.”
Glen believes automation will be the way of the future in dairy. In fact, it’s one of the things that attracted him back to the industry and the role at Lely Center Gippsland.
“The younger generation love robots, they’ve grown up with touch screens, with automation. It’s just a natural lead on. And labour is getting harder and harder to get, and more expensive.
With Glen now focusing his attention on calf feeding, his Lely colleagues tell us he’s become somewhat of a guru on the topic. “Glen’s known for it throughout the area now”, Lely Center Gippsland Manager Jordan says. “You think calf feeding, you think Glen!”
“Calf rearing is turning into a bit of a passion of mine” says Glen. “I like getting out on farms, seeing the calf rearing differences from farm to farm. Making sure calves are being fed as they should be. You’re always learning.”
Optimising the calf rearing process to develop quality milkers can be a time consuming process for farmers, Glen explains. “People don’t realise the time and effort that farmers put into rearing a calf from birth to being a milker. The hours and the processes it takes. Then multiply that by how many animals they keep.
“I enjoy having a satisfied farmer at the end of an install. Freeing up their time, and seeing calves feeding more like a natural environment, instead of being fed five litres once a day because that’s all the farmer has time to do, when that’s not really what a calf needs.
“Hearing recent comments like ‘I don’t know why we didn’t do this years ago’ and ‘It’s great, all the calves have had at least one feed by the time I get to the shed in the morning’, that’s the reward for me.”
Glen believes automation will be the way of the future in dairy. In fact, it’s one of the things that attracted him back to the industry and the role at Lely Center Gippsland.
“The younger generation love robots, they’ve grown up with touch screens, with automation. It’s just a natural lead on. And labour is getting harder and harder to get, and more expensive.
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“With robots, you’ve still got an asset at the end, whereas if an employee leaves, you don’t. It’s an investment. If you ever want to sell, you just pull it out like a washing machine. It’s plug and play, with just a few small alterations here and there.”
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Glen explains that the fluctuating inputs of a dairy farm make it a tough gig, but the data available through milking robots can help farmers manage their profitability.
“There’s fluctuations in grain, in hay, plus seasonal conditions can affect their income. If it rains for someone in an office they still get paid the same, but if it rains relentlessly for a farmer their production income will probably drop. Everything fluctuates and the farmer has to deal with it.
“You can generate so much data out of the robots, it’s not hypothetical anymore. It’s not just what you think is working or isn’t, you’re not guessing things, the figures are right in front of you all of the time. It’s all broken down into categories for you to analyse and assess how well things are going. You can redirect expenses to avenues that generate more income.”
With a young family himself, Glen says one of the biggest incentives to automate is the time it saves and the impact that can have on the family.
“It frees up your life. You can spend a lot more time with the kids when they’re growing up, you don’t miss out on that. You can be flexible with the times you do things in the shed to suit family life. You can spend an hour in the morning collecting the last few cows in, then be back inside by 7am to have breakfast with the family, get the kids ready for school and see them off for the day.”
When it comes to finding balance, Glen reckons Gippsland is a great place for it. “It’s the lifestyle here”, he says. “It’s close to the family. I’ve never really had the need to go too far.”
And what does he have to say about the rest of the team at Lely Center Gippsland?
“Gordo (Jordan) is very professional, very smart, but has a humorous side”, he tells us. “Marc used to look after 100 robots in England, so his knowledge base is huge. Josh and Ben (our younger technicians) are learning heaps from him. Everyone is.
“I’m proud of the way this business is built, the customer relationships that we’ve built, and it’s still building. From small things big things grow.”
When he’s not working you’ll find Glen spending time with his family, cheering on Essendon (“I enjoyed playing football when I was younger but I’m past that now!” he says), or gardening and maintaining their two acre property. “I like being outdoors”, he explains.
“There’s fluctuations in grain, in hay, plus seasonal conditions can affect their income. If it rains for someone in an office they still get paid the same, but if it rains relentlessly for a farmer their production income will probably drop. Everything fluctuates and the farmer has to deal with it.
“You can generate so much data out of the robots, it’s not hypothetical anymore. It’s not just what you think is working or isn’t, you’re not guessing things, the figures are right in front of you all of the time. It’s all broken down into categories for you to analyse and assess how well things are going. You can redirect expenses to avenues that generate more income.”
With a young family himself, Glen says one of the biggest incentives to automate is the time it saves and the impact that can have on the family.
“It frees up your life. You can spend a lot more time with the kids when they’re growing up, you don’t miss out on that. You can be flexible with the times you do things in the shed to suit family life. You can spend an hour in the morning collecting the last few cows in, then be back inside by 7am to have breakfast with the family, get the kids ready for school and see them off for the day.”
When it comes to finding balance, Glen reckons Gippsland is a great place for it. “It’s the lifestyle here”, he says. “It’s close to the family. I’ve never really had the need to go too far.”
And what does he have to say about the rest of the team at Lely Center Gippsland?
“Gordo (Jordan) is very professional, very smart, but has a humorous side”, he tells us. “Marc used to look after 100 robots in England, so his knowledge base is huge. Josh and Ben (our younger technicians) are learning heaps from him. Everyone is.
“I’m proud of the way this business is built, the customer relationships that we’ve built, and it’s still building. From small things big things grow.”
When he’s not working you’ll find Glen spending time with his family, cheering on Essendon (“I enjoyed playing football when I was younger but I’m past that now!” he says), or gardening and maintaining their two acre property. “I like being outdoors”, he explains.