Milking Parlor Smorgasbord
(Conllntnd from Page A 27)
a dairy operation must be consid
ered because it will be affected by
a change in an existing milking
parlor or a conversion from a
stanchion and pipeline setup to
parlor.
Robert Engle, a farm systems
engineer with Agway Inc., pro
vided a cost comparison guide
showing price ranges, not neces
sarily those offered by any one
company, and how they related to
other costs of operation, the size of
the parlors and the size of the herd.
According to the table, the most
inexpensive operation (on a basis
of the cost-per-cow needed to pay
back equipment, housing and
labor) is a double-10, all-exit par
lor with one operator milking 400
cows. The next inexpensive on the
same basis was a double-16 all
exit parlor with two people milk
ing 600 cows.
However, the table Engle pro
vided was only designed to pro
vide a model for what kind of costs
might be incured.
The pannel of dairymen
included Tim Fessenden, from
King Ferry, N.Y.; Cliff Sweigart,
When it comes to providing benefit programs, no
one comes close to Dairylea Cooperative.
Because benefits are important to you, and
important in attracting and keeping your farm
employees, Dairylea Cooperative offers its
members:
• Top-rated Medical Coverages
• Disability Insurance
• Member Pension Plan
• Flexible Benefits Packages
• Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan
• Dental Coverage
• Life Insurance
These benefit options are available at affordable
rates. And the Flexible Benefits Packages and
Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan can be
funded with pre-tax dollars. Savings all the way
around.
Just as important, Dairylea Cooperative
provides members with highly competitive
premiums and innovative financial services that
include:
• Milk Check Direct Deposit
• Member Loan Program
• Energy Loan Program
Dairylea, also, has Farm Resource Specialists
who can work with you one-on-one to help improve
your productivity and profitability.
T ;thtown; and Stan Weeks,
with Agway’s Farm Management
Research station farm.
Fessenden has a rapid exit para
llel system. He used to have a
double-five herringbone and 100
cows. He said that when checking
out the number of cows he would
need to pay off a new system he
would need to milk 300 cows.
In the summer of 1989 he started
construction on the parallel
system.
In the months that he has had it,
Fessenden said he can milk 80
cows an hour if everything is per
fect He has a 270-head milking
herd and it takes him about 3‘/i
hours to do a milking.
But because he has his herd bro
ken into four different milking
groups he isn’t getting maximum
efficiency. He said each group
takes less than an hour to milk.
The prevailing thought offered
during the seminar in parlor design
is to have good ventilation, and
wide, non-imposing entrances and
exits for the cows.
Fessenden said he had a lot of
natural lighting built into his parlor
mostly for the benefit of those
working there and to also add cross
ventilation.
He has a sloped pit under a slat
ted flow in the holding area and
parlor.
The only change he would make
is to improve the ventilation of the
sub-floor pit during construction.
He said he is in the process of mak
ing improvements now.
Clifford Sweigart, of Ridgeview
Farms in Elizabethtown, has 146
free stalls and double-six herring
bone parlor with extra room built
to allow for possible expansion to a
double-eight.
“Cow flow is a priority in almost
all systems,” he said.
His parlor was finished in
February. “We’ve been in it for the
past 10 months and we’re extreme
ly happy.”
He has meters at each milking
station, but they have yet to be
linked to a main computer, he said.
The floor in the holding area is
double-grooved. “If I had it to do
over. I’d do it in slats and would
have used a flush system," he said.
He also recommended using tile
on the walls. He said tiles were in
the old parlor he replaced and,
aside from a few chips in the tile,
the building was in perfect shape
after years of use.
Dairy farmers like Norm Torrance have
maintained a longstanding partnership with
Dairylea because of the cooperative’s ongoing
commitment to improving its members’ bottom
lines. As you build for the future, you need a reliable
partner to provide you with a competitive price for
your milk, affordable benefit programs, and
resources to help you improve your profitability.
That partner is Dairylea Cooperative. Give us
a call!
CaH Shirley at 1-800-654-8838
OR 1-800-722-0231 (NY only)
MEM
MEANS MORE
Pairylea
Cooperative lnc.o
P.O. 80x4844, Syracuse, NY 13221
HIP
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December IS, 1990-A29
He has a return alley for cows
that require special treatment, an
indexing rail the pushes back to get
the cows back against the splash
guards and “There are no turns.
They go out into an 11 foot by 20
foot surge area.”
A directional gate used to divert
certain cows is rigged so thata man
in the milking pit can operate it
from there.
He said, however, to take time
and really think out the whole sys
tem before starting any construc
tion or financing. In effect, he sug
gested that someone contemplat
ing going with constructing a
parlor should attempt to customize
it as much as possible in the plan
ning stages.
“Anything you can add for con
venience will be an added plus,”
Sweigart said.
Stan Weeks, farm system engi
neer, said that Agway people
planned for six months when they
decided to make some changes at
their research station, located
about IS miles south of Syracuse,
N.Y.
He said the goal for the new par
lor was to go to three-times a day
milking with one person and keep
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the location the same.
As an aside, he said the Agway
herd has a rolling average of
22,500 pounds of milk.
What was built was a well
lighted, double-eight rapid exit
herringbone parlor. The entire
building was widened from 36-feet
to 72-feet, natural ventilation was
used in all areas for almost all
months of the year. Sliding doors
that open into a large surge area
allow for a quick cow exit and
turn-around.
The research parlor has a
16-foot ceiling because of an
observation area that is built above
the the parlor pit
In the winter, the air is heated
with natural gas and blowers. He
said they use about a 100 gallons
per winter.
The milking rate there is 64
cows an hour.
The entire situation is not ideal,
however, because the have 60
freestalls, 120 tie stalls and the rest
of the herd in a research laboratory
situation.
The parlor does have automatic
identification system and milk
weighing with a holder to keep
accuracy within two percent.
The parlor was a prototype for
one that is now commercially
available.
It also has a pnuematic indexing
rail that he said he was wary of
because it appeared that cows
might jump and be injured. How
ever, it has not happened.
He also said rapid exiting is
important to get turn around on use
of the parlor. He said it takes eight
seconds to clear the stalls.
The only change he would make
(Turn to Page A3O)
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