Cow comfort a priority for top milk production
“We always look at what is best for our cows. It is good if it improves the efficiency – to get more milk per cow,” says Jeff Betley of Betley Farms. “The equipment has made us better, made us look better and made the work smoother for us and the cows.”
Jeff and Jenna Betley run a third-generation dairy farm in Wisconsin, USA. In building a new facility, they made sure it would be big on cow comfort. “Whatever we do, we need to make sure that the girls are healthy.”
By putting the cows’ comfort first, the Betleys were also making sure they would be very effective milk producers; because happy cows produce more milk.
“We need to make sure that the girls are healthy.”
Very efficient milking
“We look at the whole picture, from the sand-bedded free stalls, to the parlour, cow flow and how the farm is arranged.” With this DeLaval parlour, the turn time for the cows is three hours per day maximum, which gives the cows more free time to eat, drink, rest and sleep.
The Betleys like their 50 stall rotary very much. It milks their herd of 1 550 cows quickly and reliably.
Regular preventive maintenance
They also made a preventive maintenance programme for their rotary. The same service technicians come every two weeks for replacement duties and regular maintenance once a month.
“We like to work with DeLaval products and people. They have been very helpful to us. If I have an issue, I know I have someone that I can turn to, to get a solution or answers from.”
