The Agri-Expo Livestock event at Sandringham, Stellenbosch is the most prestigious livestock event in South Africa. The 2016 event, which took place from 13 to 15 October, included cattle championships, youth shows, animal and product displays, animal parades, demonstrations, machinery and equipment.

At an event such as this, it is important that the cows are milked comfortably and timeously. As in previous years, GEA Southern & Eastern Africa provided an eight-point side-by-side milking parlour as a goodwill service to the event organisers and farmers.

The parlour showcased GEA’s signature contemporary, space-efficient design, which ensures that milking runs smoothly, without any stress to the cows and with considerable ease of use for operators. It was fitted with the revolutionary IQ milking cluster, which is unbeatable when it comes to efficiency, and included the GEA Dematron 70 milk recording system. This innovative control unit records precise data, like the exact yield from each individual cow, and also analyses that data, which is invaluable in helping farmers to monitor production and the condition of their cows for precision farming, optimum yield and a healthy, happy herd.

This year, GEA also showcased their total solutions approach, and brought along some of their other products that can benefit dairy farmers across the entire production process, from hygiene equipment to compressors and Thermo King T-Dairy for transportation cooling. The goal was to show industry players that GEA can provide its customers with equipment, solutions and service of the highest quality, with some of the best professional support in the industry, all from one source.

As always, the milking parlour was a draw card, especially for the many school groups who attend the expo, and the organisers and farmers were grateful to GEA for taking such excellent care of their animals.