Franken farm

• Located in Swifterbant, Netherlands
• Owners: Pieter and Karina Franken, kids Hanneke 8, Geke 6 and Melco 3
• 100 cows, Holsteins
• TURN-STYLES® Herringbone rotary
• Two milkings per day

The farm

The Franken family began with a farm that only had 45 dairy cows but 11,000 layer hens. This farm was situated in Barneveld, Netherlands. However, when it was time to expand, the existing farm area wouldn’t allow for it.

“On my old farm, there was not enough room to grow my dairy farm operations. Even though the poultry business is quite profitable, I had to be honest with myself – I am more of a dairy farmer than a poultry farmer,” says Pieter Franken, owner, together with his wife Karina, of the new Franken farm in Swifterbant, Netherlands.

Housing

The Frankens made a decision and invested in the new farm with its 56 hectares and two barns. The larger barn on this farm is built to hold 230 dairy cows, while the smaller one is better suited for young livestock. “In this new area, we now have a lot more space. We also have a good collaboration with our neighbouring farmers who mainly grow crops. This gives us a good opportunity to solve the manure problem.”

Milking

The Frankens want to begin using their new TURNSTYLES HBR rotary parlour with milking around 100 cows. This rotary parlour is labour efficient and the milking routine is the same for every cow, every day.

“After researching which system I wanted, and visiting many farms beforehand, in the end, I thought the rotary parlour was the best solution for me,” says Pieter.

“I have chosen a rotary because of the consistent milking routine and the highest throughput per cow."

The Frankens bought a TURN-STYLES HBR with 28 bail steel deck with sequence gates. On the automation side, they chose a milking point controller and a milk meter. Pieter plans to milk alone in his rotary parlour, and since he has no time to spray or dip at the exit, he invested in a spraycare box. “In a rotary, the cows are exiting one at a time and that should make it possible to have the necessary capacity to spray the teats.”

Herd management

Pieter wants to work with two production groups but milk them all together. After milking, the two groups will be split again by a sort gate. And in order to have good cow traffic to the rotary, he invested in a crowd gate. Pieter uses the ALPRO™ herd management system and activity meters to get control of his herd.

The future

When investing, the Frankens thought of the future. “Labour efficiency will be very important when I expand my farm to 200 cows in the coming years as I plan to do. To help with this, Pieter purchased many options with the TURN-STYLES HBR that would increase labour efficiency. Calf feeders, a crowd gate, spraycare box, activity meters and a sort gate were among the options.

“I also think one needs a heat detection system for a herd with more than 100 dairy cows. You can earn a lot of money with a good fertility rate,” explains Pieter. Before purchasing all options and equipment, Pieter asked himself the question: 'Will this option give me a pay back in profit or labour?' “If the answer was negative I didn’t buy it. It’s only in the future that I will know if I was right or wrong.”