The Rural Voice, 2000-05, Page 26•
4144‘..-P.O.
P` P.O. Box 1 !j Ai
Goderich, ON
N7A 3Y5
For all your steel requirements.
beams. rounds. hot and cold finished bar.
channel. reinforcing steel, square tubing.
angles. flat bar, expanded metal, bar grading
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Ply we offer the following services: forming.
flame cutting of steel,
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WHITE EXTRUDED PLASTIC SHEETS
Sheet sizes: 4 feet x 8 feet, 10 feet, 12 feet.
Colour, white, black, blue, red, yellow, gold.
Thickness: 3/32 inch to 1/2 inch.
UMHW Plastic:
Sheet size 4 feet x 8 feet & 10 feet
Colour: numerous
Thickness: 1/8 inch to 2 inches
UG Plastic:
Sheet sizes up to 6 feet wide,
Colour: Black & White
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Plywoods:
Fibre Glass Coated Plywood One Side
Sheet Size 4 feet x 8 feet & 10 feet
Colour: White
Plastic Coloured Plywood One Side:
Sheet size 4 feet x 8 feet
Colour: White
Trim & Fasteners:
Plastic trim, Nylon, Plastic,
Stainless Fasteners.
Plastic Slats:
Uses: Hog Flooring, Steps, Cat Walks,
Size: 1 foot wide x 4 feet long interlocking.
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Plastic Rolls:
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Hog & Cattle Panels (Galvanized)
Cattle Panels 16 feet long x 52 inches high
Hog Panels 16 feet long x 34 inches high
CaII 524-2082 or fax 524-1091
for more information & pricing
22 THE RURAL VOICE
L..
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Iiikkt di -km 4::
Though an extremely popular
innovation for some time now in
Europe, the robots have only come to
this country in the past few years.
Art Bos saw them first while
visiting family in Holland seven
years ago. "His brother-in-law kept
taking him to different farms where
they had robotics and telling him he
should try them," says Henry.
Though impressed by what he
saw, the real push to install
them at Bellestein came when
the Boses' older son Arthur, who had
helped with the milking of the 90
Holstein herd, said he wanted out to
concentrate on his poultry operation.
"With Henry taking the farm over,
we knew he couldn't do it alone, so
we were either going to have to hire
someone or buy the robots," says
Sandy. Justifying the cost wasn't
difficult,•she says. "We figured in the
long run it was cheaper to get the
robotics than hire someone and%it
came with less headaches. These
Cows line up to use the milker,
(above) rewarded with food (left) as
they are milked. On average the
cows have been milked three times
a day, computer records show.
don't want weekends off, summer
vacations, nor do they call in sick.
They just don't quit."
The concept of the robots is that of
free choice for the cows. The animals
must be trained to go into the robotic
milker's square box. Once inside,
they get a ration of feed as a reward.
The robotic is on a grid sheet with
a key pad much like a remote control.
An eye is run with a laser. To find
the location of the teats on each cow,
the eye has to be placed within so
many inches of the udder.
"The robot basically remembers
where it started so the next time that
cow comes in it looks for the same
position," says Sandy.
Cows are identified to the robot by
a responder on their neck.
The robot washes, milks and sprays
the cow. "Everything that is normally
done in a parlour," says Sandy.
The robot also keeps records. "It
remembers exactly what every cow
gives for the last 14 days and when it
milks," says Henry. That information
is stored in the computer system in
the barn.
With the cows able to enter the box
any time they please, the animals are
averaging three milkings a day,
which is expected will increase
production. Bellestein Holsteins have
a herd average at this point of 31.5
litres per day per cow, which is a
slight increase. "It's good production.
We're not doing too bad," says
Henry.