Mark de Jong ‘Streampulse milking technology puts less strain on the teat orifices’

Maatschap De Jong in Alphen in Brabant has been a Fullwood JOZ customer for almost 50 years. The farm has three branches: dairy cattle, broilers and arable farming. Mark de Jong installed two new M²erlin milking robots on the farm in August 2020. He tells us about what changed after the arrival of these smart robots.

The farm’s activities

In 2006, Mark de Jong became a partner in the farm owned by his parents, Ad and Elly. After the death of his father in 2011, Mark and his mother continued managing the business together, and by early 2023, Mark had taken over the running of the farm completely. He currently has 135 dairy and calving cows and 100 head of young cattle. The farm also has 120 hectares of land (including leased land). ‘We use the land for crops and for grazing the dry cows and young cattle,’ Mark tells us. ‘As well as grass and corn, we also grow field beans, fibre hemp, chipping potatoes, peas, beans, spinach and winter wheat.’

Mark took on a permanent employee to help with daily operations in November 2022. ‘Willem focuses specifically on the dairy cows,’ Mark explains. ‘He makes sure everything runs smoothly and the cows have whatever they need. Of course, the Fullwood JOZ M²erlin milking robots take a lot of the work off our hands. And they make the milking process transparent. The readings are clear and easy to understand, and they tell you exactly how your herd is doing.’

Improvements and expansions

The farm has changed quite a lot over the years. For instance, since the free-stall barn was built in 1984, it has been raised and extended several times. The 2×5 herringbone parlour became a 2×7 parlour, and then in 2010, they upgraded the parlour by installing two Merlin 225 milking robots. In 2020, they turned again to Fullwood JOZ’s proven milking technology with the purchase of two M²erlin milking robots. ‘I didn’t even consider other brands,’ says Mark.

Once the new milking robots were operational, Mark immediately noticed how calm it was in the barn. ‘That’s a good sign,’ he says. ‘There’s no hint of any agitation. The cows were already used to robotic milking, and that made it easy for them to adapt to the M²erlins.’

Increased milkings

Mark’s experience of using the two new M²erlins has been superb. ‘The average number of milkings per day has never been so high,’ he tells us. ‘The cows’ milk let-down is better than before, and milk-out has also improved. We no longer see cows with overfull udders. That’s all down to the Streampulse milking technology.’

‘This technology ensures that half the yield is collected in the first two minutes of milking,’ Mark continues. ‘Streampulse milking technology puts less strain on the teat orifices than other milking techniques. This is because the teats are allowed to rest during milking rather than being continuously vacuumed, which prevents damage to the teat orifice and the accumulation of fluid.’

‘This also promotes good udder health. We don’t have many cases of mastitis, and our vet’s bills are low. We also have a somatic cell count of between 60 and 120, which is a lot lower than average.’

Dual entrance

The cows can approach the new robots from both the rear and the side. The dual entrance was a conscious choice, and Mark is convinced it contributes to the increased number of milkings. ‘I would recommend it to every dairy farmer,’ he says. ‘It means the cows no longer jostle each other. If you only have one entrance and two cows arrive at the gate at the same time, the stronger one will always assert itself. It can then take quite a while for the other cow to come back. That problem is solved when you have two entrances because the cows will usually calmly wait their turn.’