On the job

'SAC HAS A HIGH-QUALITY SYSTEM IN WHICH EVERYTHING WORKS EFFICIENTLY AND AT HIGH CAPACITY'

Wim Bonestroo purchased his farm in Doornspijk and immediately had a new 44-stall carousel outdoor milking system installed in order to realise his goals for his dairy farm. The entire system works optimally because all links in the chain are aligned, from feeding, the upwards-sloping waiting area, the crowd gate, the retention bars and the selection gates, through to the actual milking process. You can milk the entire herd in an hour and 20 minutes (an average of 190-200 cows per hour). The retention bars in particular work very well and this is really extremely valuable. As soon as a cow enters the milking parlour, you can secure her to make sure you come back to her for treatment, for example. This means that the milker can stay in the milking parlour and continue to monitor and treat the cows without needing to stop the carousel. You can milk with just one person in this milking parlour if necessary. The touchscreen gives a complete overview of the milking parlour, and the cows in need of attention are immediately visible to the milker. You always have all relevant information to hand during milking.

Facts

• 44-stall carousel outdoor milking system
• 250 cows are milked in the milking parlour
• Average milk production is 11,700 kilograms per cow per year
• 70 hectares of land
• Cows are milked three times a day

Wim Bonestroo 
Doornspijk, The Netherlands