GEA : ApolloMilkSystem makes all the difference for Millers Court Farm

The ApolloMilkSystem is the latest milking parlor technology from GEA that dips, teats and backflushes the milking cluster automatically after every milking to improve or maintain the health of the udder, save money for the farmer and maintain the quality of the milk for the consumer. It leaves nothing to chance when taking care of the welfare of the farmer's dairy herd.

ApolloMilkSystem at work

Ed Newton from Millers Court Farm has benefitted from the technology both in terms of having better udder health and milk yield as well as improved milk quality and milking efficiency, which has in turn led to lower costs for the farm near Malvern.

Ed Newton started milking in his new GEAEuroClass 80020/40 SwingOver parlor in September 2015. He is now milking 500 cows through the parlor which is equipped with the GEA ApolloMilkSystem. The parlor also contains a moving floor,Ego lifting floor, which can go up or down to suit the working height of the milker. ThePosiSwingpositioning arm smoothly swings over and automatically switches on the unit when the milker is ready to put the unit on the cow. TheDemaTroncontrol unit links to theDairyPlanherd management software feeding information back and forwards to keep the operator informed so he can easily manage his cows.

"The cows are milking well, averaging 34 liters, with 11 cases of mastitis per 100 cows and my last six-month average cell count was 116," says Ed. "I'm happy with my decision to buy a GEA parlor for myself and my operators," he adds.

The efficiency of the system is one of the main advantages for the farmer and his operators. David Simmons, GEA's Head of Milking & Dairy Farming in the UK explains why. "It's much more efficient than using a manual method, either with a spray or a dip cup," says David. "It's one less job for the milking operator to do and he can be confident that it's always performed consistently."

The ApolloMilkSystem uses just the right formulation of iodine teat dip to ensure the highest level of disinfection and, with its incorporated patented safety valve, contamination of the milk is avoided. With each clinical case of mastitis estimated at £200/cow/case on average, then activities that minimize new intra mammary infections are likely to support savings for farmers over the long term.

The unique milk safety valve developed by GEA, effectively separates the dipping medium from the milk thereby ensuring that there is no possibility of iodine contaminating the milk. The ApolloMilkSystem features the award-winning IQ cluster with each quarter of the udder milked into separate chambers eliminating cross quarter, intra mammary infections via the cluster, then automatically flushes the used milking cluster to prevent any opportunity for cross infection between cows.