Mark and wife Kelsey own a 100ha, 600 Friesian cow dairy farm and a 80ha cropping farm, in Burnham, Canterbury.
The ADF (automatic dipping and flushing) system aims to reduce mastitis and its spread amongst the herd by automatically spraying the teats while the cups are still on the udder, directly after milking, while the teat canal is still open. After removal every liner is automatically rinsed. Within 20 seconds from the end of milking, the cluster is ready for the next cow.
It was over the breakfast table that Williams first learned about ADF when a friend handed him an ADF brochure. He then called ADF who took him to see a farm with the system installed just down the road.
“The farmer spoke highly of his ADF system so I took the bank manager for a look. He said ‘why don’t all dairy farmers have this?’ so from that point it was let’s do it, let’s go.
From installation in July 2012 Williams hasn’t looked back. “Our cell counts average around 120,000 and we’re only having to deal with one case of mastitis a week. I attribute this success to ADF. “Our staff love ADF too, so much that they’ve said they wouldn’t milk again in a shed without ADF.
“That’s because it makes their life so much easier. Manual teat spraying would be a problem where we are; it’s windy a lot of the time so it would blow in all directions risking the teat being missed and you’d end up using more chemicals. The automatic dipping after milking ensures the teat is fully coated.
Tel. 0800 233 645
