“We are milking 300 more cows with the same labor in less time.”

Since upgrading to a DeLaval Rotary milking system PR3100HD, Robert Vander Eyk and Sons Dairy has seen a positive change in their farm’s work efficiency and ability to spend time on farm chores that previously had little room for attention.

“We upgraded to the PR3100 parlor to increase cow throughput,” says Bob Vander Eyk. Bob, along with his wife Arlene and two sons Derek and Brian, own and operate Robert Vander Eyk and Sons Dairy. Since starting with 320 cows in 1982, the farm has moved sites and grown to 2,500 cows.

Increasing the number of cows that the farm is able to milk per hour has saved on time, and freed up labor for additional tasks. Bob shares that, “We can get more done in less time, leaving more time for other non-herd health chores such as corral maintenance, hay processing, composting, and farming.”

In addition to the rotary parlor, the Vander Eyk family has installed several DeLaval sort gates to aid in cow flow. The sort gates have reduced the amount of labor previously needed to fetch cows, allowing other employees to be productive elsewhere.

“We chose DeLaval equipment because of the quality of equipment and our ongoing relationship with our local dealer,” says Bob.

The Vander Eyks work hard to remain successful on their farm, but also have a true passion for the dairy industry. “Success to me is doing what you enjoy every day and coming back the next day and enjoying it more than you did the day before,” Bob says.