‘I experience a faster drying period and more efficient start-up with StopLac’

Jan and Rob Jennissen’s dairy farm in The Netherlands has been using AHV products for over three and a half years. After a successful collaboration with AHV, they decided last year to test StopLac when drying off their cows. What started as an opportunity to limit the use of medication has now resulted in significant benefits for their business.

After almost a year of using StopLac, the benefits are clearly visible. Jan shares his experiences and explains how the product helps them dry off their cows more quickly and get them back in production more efficiently.

A successful switch to StopLac

At Jan and Rob Jennissen’s dairy farm in The Netherlands, the switch to StopLac has been a success. After almost a year of experience with the product, the benefits are clearly visible. Jan explains: “We have been using AHV products for a long time and last year we had the opportunity to try out StopLac for drying off. We were open to it, as we always try to keep the use of medication to a minimum.”

This choice quickly proved to be a good move, as the cows dry up faster and the start-up after calving went much more efficiently. Jan is therefore very satisfied with the result: “The cows went through the dry period more easily and started milking again quickly as soon as they had calved.”

Productive herd

The Jennissen family dairy farm has a particularly productive herd, with an average milk production of 12,860 kg per cow per year. This means that the cows often still produce considerable amounts of milk when they go into dry period.

Jan explains: “Our old dairy cows sometimes give between 18 and 25 liters of milk per day. We want to reduce this to 15 liters, but preferably even less. In the past, we would put the cows in a separate straw pen in the last weeks of their lactation to reduce milk production. They would then be fed a ration of corn and chopped straw and, in the end, only milked once a day. This did reduce milk production, but it caused a lot of extra work and unrest in the barn.”

The benefits of StopLac

The introduction of StopLac changed all that. Jan and Rob tested the product by dividing the cows into two groups: one group was dried off with StopLac, the other without. Jan explains: “We quickly saw a difference in the pressure on the udder, but the effect was especially noticeable in the long term. The cows that had been given StopLac recovered much faster and more easily after calving. This is the most important result for us. Of course we have to keep an eye on the costs, but the fact that the cows can continue to milk without any problems until they actually go dry makes the investment more than worth it for us.”

StopLac as standard for all cows

Since then, StopLac has been administered to all cows that go into dry-off. “We give them the tablets immediately after their last milking in the robot. Rob always makes sure that the teat ends are properly sealed to prevent bacteria from entering the udder. The cows then go to the dry-off group and remain there until calving,” says Jan.