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| I'm also a dairy farmer from Iowa, been in the business all of my life. Was in the same predicament that you are in now-
only made it till I was close to 40 when the body started telling me that milking cows in a stanchion barn was not going
to work much longer. Did a lot of "thinking" and asking a lot of what ifs in my mind those last few years before making
the change to a parlor free-stall setup. Also looked at a lot of larger operations -at that time, about 12 years ago, a herd
of 100 cows was considered to be "large". Ended up with a double eight herringbone, bought from a Wisconsin dairy
farm that was going through bankruptcy, for a very reasonable price.
If you like the dairy business, and are good with the cows, I think you'll be happy with the change whichever type of
parlor you end up with. After the change to the parlor for me, the body pains eased up, and soon you stop thinking of
milking as a chore . Believe it or not, milking can become fun again, and you start thinking why did I wait as long as I did
to make the change. And, once you get settled in and comfortable, you'll likely consider adding more cows.
As for the type of parlor, visit some of each . Many farmers are willing to let you get down in the pit with them, and get
some actual hands -on experience to help you make up your mind. Most are honest enough to tell you what features
they are happy with...and what they would change if they had to do it all over again. Each type of parlor has it's
benefits and weaknesses, herringbones allow more of the cow to be seen by the operator while she is being milked.
Parallels decrease the the number of steps between cows and I would think, would take a smaller (lengthwise) building
than any other parlor type. I like my herringbone, but many that have milked in both actually prefer milking cows from
the rear in a parallel parlor.
By the way, I'm located in eastern Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River
Good luck, whatever you decide to do.
aj | |
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Milking parlor options
