- English
Manuel Schneider owns and operates Gröster Hof farm with a 200-dairy-cow-strong herd in Vorarlberg, right on the Austrian shores of Lake Constance. He has been using the ADF System in his 2×12 side-by-side parlour for several years now.
The automatic teat dipping particularly impressed him from the outset: “The driving factor for us was the automation. The automatic dipping just does the job right every single day.” But what he initially bought just for automation turned out to be a bull’s-eye for the farm. “It was only in hindsight that we realised the labour savings were greater,” Manuel reports. “We probably save a whole person in our milking parlour.”
The impact on animal health exceeded all expectations. “Last summer, we went four straight months without a single case of mastitis,” Manuel says with satisfaction. “No antibiotics, nothing at all – and that’s with 200 cows in a very wet summer with high humidity.” His cows also seem to appreciate the system: “They reward us with their good health and plenty of milk. I think they like the ADF System.”
After years of using it, Manuel is especially impressed by the ADF System’s reliability: “The system has no issues – it runs and runs and runs.” When he had to work without the system for 10 days once, he realised just how much work it takes off his shoulders: “That’s when you appreciate how much labour it saves and how well the system runs.”
His conclusion is clear: “It helps us to save labour, improve animal health, and strengthen our economic success. For any dairy farm, it’s an investment in the future. If I were buying a milking parlour or running a different one, I’d add it again. There’s no question about it.”
