Calf Rail
Sold by Foerster-Technik
Grober Young Animal
Development Centre
Comments from Jan Ziemerink, Foerster-Technik North America and Grober Nutrition
What does this product do?
ZIEMERINK: It provides automatic feeding of individually housed calves animal by animal in small, freshly prepared portions up to eight times a day.
What brought about the product’s creation?
ZIEMERINK: The calf rail was inspired to respond to the frequent question producers would ask regarding the automatic calf-feeding machines:
How can we automatically feed multiple feedings a day to calves in individual pens with the option to move into groups after seven to 10 days?
{socialbuttons}How is this product different from a competitor’s product?
ZIEMERINK: It is the first automatic feeding system in the world for individually housed calves.
How will your product make a dairy more profitable and efficient?
ZIEMERINK: Less work by removing the chores of feed preparation and cleaning of buckets or bottles. More flexibility for the farmer with more control in knowing the amounts and drinking speeds of the calves. More feedings per day is always better for calves.
Faresin Leader Ecomode 2800 self-loading TMR mixer
Sold by Brodie Ag/Faresin
Booth North Mall L & M
Comments from Al Brodie,
Brodie Ag & Industrial
What does this product do?
BRODIE: Its unique design makes it four machines in one – a tractor, a loader, a mixer and a bale processor.
What brought about the product’s creation?
BRODIE: It was developed to feed cattle faster and more economically, with less capital investment and less maintenance and depreciation.
How is this product different from a competitor’s product?
BRODIE: It is the first self-loader to obtain official accreditation from the Penn State Shaker Box test. It is also the fastest loading mixer on the market at 3.5 tonnes per minute and has the tallest loading-boom height of 20 feet. Three-position steering (front, rear or crab) is standard on the self-loader, as is four-wheel drive.
How will your product make a dairy more profitable and efficient?
BRODIE: The computer system uses only the power required to perform at the machine’s maximum capacity, saving the producer fuel, money and time. This self-loading mixer is setting the new industry standard by being 35 percent faster and 30 percent cheaper at the end of the year.
Gelmat DS
Sold by Promat Inc.
Booth 8th Lane NM-846
Comments from Jordan O’Neil, Promat Inc.
What does this product do?
O’NEIL: It provides an optimal flooring surface for cows to lie on.
The unparalleled cow comfort results in greater lying time, which has been proven to increase milk production.
The supportive gel interior not only contours to the cow’s body but also helps to eliminate the incidence of hock sores.
What brought about the product’s creation?
O’NEIL: Our product engineers set out to develop the next-generation cow-comfort system that was durable and comfortable, relieving the extra costs and labour of sand.
How is this product different from a competitor’s product?
O’NEIL: The mat is designed to provide a soft but stable surface allowing cows to easily lie down and stand up. The gel-filled mattress eliminates pressure points and will maintain softness over time.
A soft-textured top cover offers an additional layer of comfort and is easily cleaned to reduce stall maintenance. The mat provides stable footing with minimal gel movement when standing and lying down.
How will your product make a dairy more profitable and efficient?
O’NEIL: This mat encourages cows to rest for longer periods of time, which increases milk production. By providing more comfort, less bedding is required. The durable top cover can be easily swept clean, requiring minimal effort.
Intra SprayPro
Sold by Diamond Hoof Care Ltd.
and partner Intracare BV
in the Netherlands
Booth SM-920 in the EastGen Pavilion
Comments from Carien Huijzer,
Diamond Hoof Care
What does this product do?
HUIJZER: The method of spraying the hoof rather than just footbathing has been a very successful approach for controlling lameness.
Our spray system is a readily accessible and easy-to-use tool that will assist producers in their focus on hoof care.
Placed in the parlour, it can be used to spray a sticky solution onto hooves to help prevent, control and reduce lameness.
What brought about the product’s creation?
HUIJZER: The concept of spraying has been around for several years, but most of the time a manual “garden” sprayer or litre bottle is used. We often heard requests for someone to design a semi-automatic system that would be durable and easy to use.
How is this product different from a competitor’s product?
HUIJZER: No pumps are being marketed today for hoof care management in dairy applications. Teat-dip systems haven’t been able to handle thicker hoof care products, and the application guns were failing.
The gun on our product is made of durable plastic and stainless steel and is specifically designed for the hoof spray job. The tip has a 60-degree angle for spraying in between the two claws where most of the infectious problems originate.
How will your product make a dairy more profitable and efficient?
HUIJZER: The great benefit of spraying compared to footbathing is that the last cow in the parlour still receives a clean treatment rather than a dirty footbath. It is also a targeted approach: The product is sprayed on the specific potentially affected area (as either a preventive or curative treatment), and no dumping of contaminated product occurs after the treatment is finished.
Lame cows are expensive. Therefore, fewer lame cows in the barn means more money saved on treatments and less loss of milk, increasing the dairy’s bottom line and keeping its cows healthier.
Sold by Grand Valley Fortifiers
Booth 9th Lane NM-939
Comments from David Ross,
Grand Valley Fortifiers
What does this product do?
ROSS: The feed pellets and supplement are designed to attract cows to the milking robot more frequently, resulting in increased feed intake and fewer cows needing to be fetched.
What brought about the product’s creation?
ROSS: It’s clear that milking robots are here to stay. As a result, Grand Valley Fortifiers wanted to provide the most advanced line of robotic milking nutrition products to ensure that dairy producers who install robots are able to get the best return on their investment.
How is this product different from a competitor’s product?
ROSS: It has been formulated from the ground up to specifically meet the needs of lactating dairy cows being milked on robots. There are three different pellet options with varying levels of protein, and each pellet is designed for a specific cow-traffic system including free-choice, feed-first and milk-first.
How will your product make a dairy more profitable and efficient?
ROSS: Because there are three different pellet options and one supplement offered, a dairy producer is able to more precisely select the protein level necessary for their cow-traffic system.
Additionally, this is a highly palatable feed which is designed to attract cows to the robot more frequently, resulting in maximized milkings and fewer cows needing to be fetched. PD
-- From Dairy Products news release
