Experience Reichenbach family

Two years ago the Reichenbach family decided to invest in barn ventilation. Since then, the barn has six Windforce fans and the dairy farmers are very enthusiastic about the results. "We see an improvement in the health and performance of our cows," says the farmer enthusiastically.

The dairy farm of Gunter and Ronny Reichenbach is located in Limbach-Oberfrohna, a town in the German state of Saxony. Günter Reichenbach briefly tells their story: "Our company was founded in 1991 by my father, Gunter Reichenbach. Since then, the family business has grown steadily. The first freestall barn was built in 1993 and in 2012 a new free stall barn for 160 animals was built."

The welfare of the cow is an important principle within the family company. "Cow comfort is of paramount important for us," says Ronny Reichenbach. This was an important aspect in the construction of the new barn. We built the new dairy barn with side wall ventilation, deep litter bedding, two milking robots, an automatic feed pusher and two years ago the Windforce fans were added.

Six Windforce fans with a frequency controller have been installed in the barn. "We decided to improve the climate conditions in the barn to prevent heat stress during warm periods", Reichenbach explains. And that goal has been achieved, the family is very satisfied with the results of the past summers. "The last few years we had very warm summers, so we were very happy that we had installed the fans. We got through the warm periods without any significant change in milk production. In addition, the fans ensure that fertility remains good.”

Cows eat better than before and are more active in warm periods

“We chose these fans because they are relatively quieter than other models and you can also regulate the air flow well,” the farmer explains his choice for Cowhouse. “Our cows lie down more in warm weather and milk production has remained constant. We also see that the cows eat better than before and are more active during warm periods. In addition, the cows walk to the milking robot more easily in warm weather than we saw before,” the farmer mentions as an advantage.

Reichenbach also sees an improvement in the health of the cows. “Thanks to the improved lying behavior, there are fewer claw problems and the dry cows are doing better. We see that the cows eat better during the day. In addition, there are no more major fluctuations in milk production and fertility is better than before,” he notes.

Fans start at 18 degrees

The fans in the Reichenbach family's barn start when the temperature reaches 18 degrees. The higher the temperature, the faster the fans run. "Our fans run from spring to autumn, when the temperatures drop again. The system is very user-friendly," says Reichenbach with satisfaction.

The collaboration with Cowhouse went very well. We would definitely recommend the Windforce Fans to other dairy farmers. They are not the cheapest, but they are very powerful and more quiet than other models.

The main goal of the Reichenbach family is to set up a dairy farm in such a way that it can be continued by the next generation. “I hope that my sons will join the dairy farm in the future and continue its development,” says Gunter Reichenbach.

Farm details

The Reichenbach family runs a dairy farm in Limbach-Oberfrohna (Germany) with 135 dairy cows and 130 young cattle. The average annual milk production is 12,368 kg of milk per cow with 4.18% fat and 4.47% protein. The farm has 220 hectares of land, of which 60 hectares are permanent grassland for the cows and 160 hectares are arable land.