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CONTACT: Dick Nelles, ESPC, 815-756-1551, dnelles@engstorage.com; or, Jon Anderson, OPEN ROADS, janderson@openroads-bgdn.com, 414-227-1000 ext. 4.

RIEDBOW DAIRY EXPANDS YET REDUCES LABOR AND ENERGY COSTS WITH HARVESTORE AND SLURRYSTORE, COMPUTERIZED FEEDING SYSTEMS

ELM CREEK, MANITOBA, CANADA – In 1987, Ale and Hilly Riedstra and their family purchased a 30-cow dairy operation with their sights set on expansion. Now 22 years later, Riedbow Dairy has become a state-of-the-art operation with 1,300 acres and 650 cows milking. They have incorporated technology into their farming operation in a continual process to improve all aspects of their dairy on a daily basis.
           Expansion started in 1995 when the farm went to 120 cows; by 1999 a new freestall barn was erected and they were milking 200 cows. They almost doubled, to 350 cows, in 2003; by 2005 the farm had a new milking parlor and 400 cows milking. Another new barn built in 2008 holds 550 cows.
           What has made all this expansion possible is the foresight to invest in technology – instead of incurring more operating expenses, the family has reduced costs for labor, energy, feed and fertilizer with additions such as a computerized feeding system, the fast unloading Harvestores and a mammoth Slurrystore for manure management. The Riedstras worked with Gordon Ross from United Livestock Systems, a Harvestore and Slurrystore dealer, to put together the technologically advanced operation.
           Riedbow Dairy was part of a “Farm of the Future Dairy Tour” held July 9th, sponsored by Engineered Storage Products Company, manufacturer of Harvestore® and Slurrystore® brands. “The farm has embraced modern feeding and waste management,” says Ross. “The Riedstras knew what they wanted and we were able to provide it to them from design through construction with their ongoing consultation.”
           Of particular focus is the feeding system. The Riedbows were feeding from bunkers, but were concerned about the amount of spoilage they were getting. So in 2008, Riedbow added their new 550-cow barn along with four new 25x106 Harvestore structures with three XL 400 Unloaders for unloading haylage and corn silage, and an XL 200 for unloading high moisture corn. The heart of the feeding system is a fully automated, computerized panel that stages precision rations for “drive-thru” feeding without manual supervision.
           “I had a 20x90 Harvestore years ago and I liked it, but I went to bunkers because the Harvestore was too slow to unload,” says the patriarch of the family, Ale, who farms with his wife, Hilly, and children Tetsje, Jennie, Al, Henry, Aleida, Derrick and Judy. “Then when we did our fourth expansion, I visited some farms with Harvestores and their new XL unloaders that sped up unloading and I was hooked, because of the quality of feed and faster feed delivery.
           “With the computerized system, everything comes out fast and you don’t have to wait for any of it. And one person can now feed the whole farm.”
           Ale is planning four more Harvestores to be added in the future.
           Electric motors provide the farm with a new level of efficiency. They are used to:

Quickly blow a load of feed into storage (with a 200 hp electric motor). The Riedstras built custom decks that allow them to blow a load of forage into a Harvestore in about 4 minutes. Plus, running a tractor to blow feed into the silo consumes about 15 gallons per hour, Ale says, whereas electricity is only about $5 to $7 per hour.
Unload the feed
Automatically fill a collection box with precision rations
Agitate/pump out a 243x19 Slurrystore, equipped with two 2400 tri-nozzle agitation systems.

           The Slurrystore is the largest ever constructed and gives the Riedstras plenty of room to expand – it too was added in 2008. “I did not want to go with concrete or a lagoon,” Ale explains. “The Slurrystore is much more advanced. The bank just wanted to know if it was big enough for expansion, so I decided to get the biggest one I could get. And we don’t have to worry about mixing the slurry tank.
           “When we were feeding from bunker silos, two men spent 3.5 hours per day running two tractors,” says Ale. “Now we can do the same job with one man working two hours per day with one tractor.”
           Riedbow Dairy is also a bit unusual in that the majority of its herd is Fleckvieh, a Bavarian breed Ale got interested in after reading an article about another dairyman, Albert Nyhof, who lives about an hour away.
           After talking to the Nyhofs and touring some German dairies with Fleckvieh, Ale brought them to his farm. Fleckvieh are known for their strong feet and legs, health, fertility and longevity (about 1 to 1.5 additional lactations is Riedbow Dairy’s goal) in the milking string.
           “They give lots of milk and lots of meat,” Ale adds.
           Today the Riedbow herd is 60 percent Fleckvieh and 40 percent Holstein – and is in transition to 100% Fleckvieh. Fleckvieh’s milk production “starts slow” Ale says but by the end of lactation out-produces his Holsteins which peak early. Plus, Ale says there are no Fleckvieh to buy for expansion “as herds utilizing them are not willing to sell any.”
           The farm’s herd production average is 9,500 litres, 3.75 percent fat and 3.43 percent protein, with a Somatic Cell Count of 171,000.
           The herd is milked in a 50-stall rotary milking parlor built in 2005. The ration is 64 percent roughage (60 percent haylage, 40% corn silage), 14 pounds of high moisture corn and 3.3 pounds purchased protein and mineral. Milk is produced at a low feed cost, with very little supplement being fed. Cows weigh 1,350 to 1,500 pounds and eat 52 pounds of dry matter daily. Raising fiber levels from 50 to 64 percent has kept cows healthier, Ale says, without a loss in production. Transition on freshening cows is now virtually trouble free, with a lower percentage of displaced abomasums.
           Being chosen to be a “Farm of the Future” is an honor, Ale says.
           “The farm of the future is available now,” Ale says. With a state-of-the-art feeding system, the best manure management system available, a sturdy Fleckvieh herd that produces and lowered costs of operation, Riedbow Dairy is a shining example of dairy technology at work. Visitors are welcome by appointment.

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