Three dairy producers say they like their low-cost parlors

Agri News

Thursday, May 14, 2009
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Three dairy producers say they like their low-cost parlors

By Carol Stender
Agri News staff writer

LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. — Each of the three milking parlors featured in last week's dairy tour differed in style.

However, all the parlors were low cost to build and increased milking efficiency.

The parlors -- a swing six, a swing eight and a single eight -- were featured in the tour sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project. The tour was prompted by discussions involving parlor options in the latest Farm Beginnings class, said Nick Olson, LSP Farm Beginnings coordinator for the Western LSP office.

Hans Kroll and his son-in-law, Adrian Murth, kept construction costs low on their swing-six parlor by doing most of the labor themselves. The parlor is in a 1990 Lesters building that was an addition to the farm's tie-stall barn, Kroll said.

Once they started to use the parlor, three people moved the cows, but less labor was needed as the cows grew comfortable with the new milking arrangement. They've since added a crowd gate.

Construction costs totaled $16,537, which included labor, materials, and work done by Spanier Welding.

Murth handles the milking duties himself for the 32-cow organic herd. The cows are a combination of Holstein, Milking Shorthorn and Jersey, he said.

Milking takes about 45 minutes, Murth said. The brisket bar on the wall can be moved to accommodate different sized animals.

Roger and Bonnie Rinde operate the farm with their son, Jeff, who joined the operation in 2006. Their daughter, Kayla Asmus and oldest son, Justin, are also involved in the operation. Their expansion including a parlor addition. The construction was done in stages and the family helped with much of it.

They milk 92 cows and have plans to increase the herd to around 110 to 125, Jeff said. The parlor design allows for expansion of its swing-eight design.

The Rindes built a 72-cow free-stall barn with sand bedding and completed the parlor construction last year. The farm's TMR room was renovated to become the parlor. The ceilings are higher in the parlor and they built windows on the south side to take advantage of sunshine.

Construction was phased over time.

"That's the beautiful part of the parlor," said Extension educator Randy Pepin. "You can keep your costs down. You can do things in stages and you don't have to do it all at the same time."

They've been milking in the parlor for more than a year.

The cost of the construction, equipment and cement was around $55,000, they said. It takes them around two hours to complete milking and washing, Jeff said.

Their herd, including Red Holstein, Brown Swiss and Jersey crosses, adapted well to the new parlor, Roger said.

"The transition from the tie-stall to the parlor wasn't as bad as we thought it would be," he said.

Nolan Lenzen's parlor is a single-eight design that uses an outdoor holding area with electrified crowd gate.

Lenzen's operation is a seasonal dairy. The cows are outdoors year-round except when cows are sheltered in a quonset during low wind-chill days.

He milked cows conventionally on his father's farm near Watertown and purchased a dairy farm in southeast Otter Tail County. He has 12 different breeds in his herd of 40 cows, he said.

Cows are pastured in spring, summer and fall and receive dry hay during winter.

The cows have a three month dry period from February to April, he said.

Lenzen wanted a pit parlor where he could bring the units to the milk house after milking. A contractor helped him get a good deal on cement and helped frame and cement the parlor and holding area, he said.

The parlor cost him around $10,000.

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