The rotary parlor tool this Ohio dairy says is worth the investment
Rotary parlors are designed to speed up the milking process and keep cows moving, but MVP Dairy was determined to take that efficiency even further. Just a few months of using ParlorBoss to administer routine shots and vaccinations right on the rotary showed Shawn Albers, head herdsman at the 4,500-cow dairy, that the system was delivering far more than they initially anticipated.
Turning bottlenecks into opportunity
In 2023, the MVP Dairy team was looking for a way to make their 80-stall DeLaval rotary and sort gate system run smoother. Previously, every cow that needed shots had to pass through the sort gate, putting extra stress on both the equipment and the herd. At the end of the day, staff would spend time walking pens to locate cows still needing shots.
“We wanted to get rid of the bottleneck of relying on the sort gates for shots,” Albers explained.
The team found a solution by implementing ParlorBoss along with a needle-free injection system. ParlorBoss syncs with DairyComp data to display cow-specific management tasks on a color-coded screen above the rotary platform. One employee stands on the platform to administer shots as cows move through, eliminating extra handling and sending less cows through the sort gate.
“We still use the sort gates for hospital treatments, checking cows and breeding,” Albers shared. “But if we had 500 cows to give shots to before ParlorBoss, that’s 500 fewer sorts we have to do now.”
Calmer cows, happier team
Albers added that the system has created a less stressful environment for both cows and employees. Staff no longer spend hours each week walking pens searching for cows, which frees up valuable time they can reprioritize for other tasks.
“It’s probably saved us an hour and a half on the days we give shots in the parlor – just by not having to sort those cows and search for any missed cows at the end of the day,” Albers said. That adds roughly six hours back in the team’s week – simply by rethinking their rotary workflow.
In addition to the time savings, Albers noticed that their new system created calmer cows. With the minimally invasive needle-free injections and fewer sorts, the herd experiences less stress overall. The calmer environment makes the entire parlor flow seamlessly and gives cows more time back in their day to eat, rest and make milk
Near-perfect compliance drives reproductive performance
As cows enter the rotary, an RFID reader identifies each animal and prompts ParlorBoss to display the appropriate task. Albers credits the system’s accuracy for the boost in compliance they’ve seen. “We’ve got a much higher compliance rate because the guys don’t overlook any of the cows needing shots,” he said.
That consistency has sent a chain reaction across the dairy, especially in reproduction. With almost perfect compliance on hormone shots, MVP Dairy saw pregnancy rates climb from the mid-20s to the low 30s.
For MVP Dairy, the benefits of ParlorBoss show up every day. Calmer cows, efficient workflows and consistent results have made it a system Albers considers key to their future success. “The return is worth the investment,” he added. “Your cows and workers will thank you. It just makes life a little easier.”
