It’s a no brainer! Says, John Stocker’ Ashburton Dairy Farmer”.
John recently upgraded his 54 Bail Rotary Milking System from electrical pulsators to Read mechanical slide pulsators. The first milking after converting to Read pulsators every bail worked correctly. This was the first time in 12-months every bail worked, said John.
John’s pulsation conversion was completed in his milking system during the winter this year. Philip Read and I called in to follow up on John’s pulsation upgrade and where we all got talking. The excitement of hearing about the new dairy farm became overshadowed when listening to John’s story.
John Stocker and his brothers took over their 3rd dairy shed in Ashburton in 2019. The 54-bail rotary milking system and farm on appearance ticked all the boxes. It was an exciting time, said John, as the rotary milking system on the surface had all the bells and whistles. The existing shed fitted out with electronic pulsation incorporated with mastitis detection. The excitement wore off when the system did not work as it should have.
Sadly, John lost 70 cows in his first season.
New parts were ordered repeatedly till tens of thousands of dollars were spent on replacement items, and the invoices for attempted repairs stacked up. However, the system was still troublesome. The electronic pulsation did not work. Stopping, starting, and inconsistent pulsation at each milking. It took an extra staff member at milking times to deal with the issues during milking. Suppliers did not appear to know how to fix the pulsators or provide solutions as to why the system was failing. When purchasing a pre-existing shed, John was fully aware that a tweak or two may be required for personal preference. However, the loss of profits continued. Due to the unstable pulsation, mastitis became a constant frustration for John. Thousands of dollars have been spent on drugs from the vet. Sadly, John lost 70 cows in his first season due to mastitis. The 70 cows needed to be replaced with heifers. Unfortunately, it may take 4 years before these heifers reach the production level like the cows, we lost said, John.
It’s a relief to know that from now on, John can rely on his Read Slide Pulsators‘ performance. Read pulsators are virtually impossible to block & maintain consistent performance. The air supply holes are slide closed, and this ensures a gentle transition between phases. In turn, it is achieving gentle pulsation that reduces teat damage and the onset of mastitis”. #TheReadWay
“At Reads, we understand that our hardworking dairy farmers need support with quality dairy equipment.
We also understand that the farm equipment we supply must be serviceable and easy to maintain. If we supply a product, I can assure you that our technicians will know how to rectify any issue. Says, Philip Read Sales Manager – Read Industrial.”
Over the last few years, there has been a substantial increase of farmers replacing electronic pulsation systems for the Read mechanical slide pulsator. Ask us about Herringbone and Rotary slide pulsators >>
Story by Lisa Mckenzie
Read Slide Pulsators are a standard feature in our milking systems, available in 4+0 and 2+2 configuration for both our herringbone and rotary dairies.