Featured Project
Brennan Bros. Farms
The Brennan family started milking cows just north of London, Ontario, in the mid-1960s. They originally began milking into a can, and in 1974 their first pipeline went in using VSO jars. In 1997 they purchased One Touch Milkers from DLS and continued to milk in their tie stall barn until this year.
This past April the Brennan family transitioned from their tie stall barn to a new 4 row center feed alley free stall barn with a parlour. After years of milking in the tie stall, the decision to transition to a parlour facility came down to 5 key reasons. They wanted to:
- Save on physical labour
- Gain efficiency
- Increase cow comfort
- Improve ventilation
- Have the ability to expand in the future with a more sustainable system
Mike Brennan said,
“We decided to use DLS because we liked the design and layout of the parlours we had toured. The parlour system is well constructed and extremely user-friendly. Since moving into the new facility, milk production is starting to climb, and our milking time is down to roughly 1 hour 5 min for 88 cows. In the new facility, we can clearly see a higher level of cow comfort with the free stall barn, improved ventilation and more access to drinking water. While at the same time being less labour intensive for ourselves.”
The barn features a DLS D-8 vertical lift parallel parlour with GEA milking equipment, DLS crowd gate, DLS sort gate, Jourdain stabling, DLS tip troughs, DLS panel fans, GEA manure equipment, DLS curtains, and Maximus controls.
Employee Announcements
DLS is pleased to welcome the following people to the Dairy Lane team:
Start A Career at DLS!
We have several great career opportunities. Check them out @ dairylane.ca/careers to see what may suit you!
Employee Spotlight
Cristina Ernst
ON Accounts Payable Coordinator
Joined DLS June 2017
Cristina started working at DLS after gaining some excellent working experience across several industries and positions. She has worked in Administration, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll. Prior to immigrating to Canada, she worked in both the banking and retail industry in Mexico.
Cristina studied English in America (Harvard Extension School, Boston, Mass), and she also has a Business Administration Degree in Mexico.
Cristina is a proud MEXI – CAN (Mexican/Canadian), born and raised in Mexico City (home to 30 million people). During her off-work hours, she can be found boating, walking, hiking, cycling and travelling. When the music starts, you can bet she will be on the dance floor – another one of her favourite things to do!
Due to travel restrictions, Cristina was able to go “home” in December to visit her family for the first time in 3 years. She loves hot weather to the point she likes to sweat – she knows she’s in the wrong country for that! She met her wonderful Canadian husband in Mexico, and they have been married for 20 years and have two amazing children, 16 and 17.
One unfortunate incident for Cristina happened in August 2020. She was on her boat and decided to go for a hike, where she suddenly hit some mud, slid and broke her ankle; she was away from work for 5 weeks and, after over a year and a half, has finally had the screws from her surgery removed.
Cristina hopes to retire in a beautiful place such as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, just on the pacific coast, where it is hot-hot-hot 24hrs a day/365 days a year!!!
Product of the Month
DLS Panel Fans
Summertime is here, and the heat waves are inevitable! If you haven’t planned ahead for ventilation, our DLS panel fans are a quick and easy solution for a fast install that will efficiently deliver a lot of air volume. You may already have a barn full of fans, but don’t forget about covering ventilation in your holding area and special needs areas!
This panel fan is 54″ with 5 blades and a heavy-duty X-brace frame. These fans have excellent airflow, and they are super quiet! They feature an energy-efficient enclosed motor, and all the components are manufactured in the USA. DLS offers a 5 year bearing and shaft warranty on the fans.
Check out the fans in action here, and connect with us to order yours and keep your cows cool and comfortable in the heat waves ahead of us.
JOB PROGRESSION HIGHLIGHTS
Aylmer, ON
Walker Dairy
The cows at Walker Dairy have been enjoying their new double 20 vertical lift parlour with GEA milking equipment! The barn features Jourdain stabling with sand bedding.
Osler, SK
New DLS Saskatchewan Location
The new future DLS shop location in Saskatchewan is looking great! We're looking forward to better serving the Saskatchewan dairy farmers out of this location!
Hamilton, ON
Brickyard Dairy
A retrofit install to improve cow comfort with the Jourdain USA style free stalls which have allowed for more lunging room on the existing cow decks.
Video of the Month
Detimdale Holsteins GEA R9500 Robot Facility
Watch Tim Hofstra of Detimdale Holsteins talk about their decisions for going with the GEA R9500 milking robot for their new 6 row perimeter feed 2 robot barn, and check out some of the unique features the GEA R9500 milking robot has to offer!