Customer opinions

The innovative products from Förster-Technik are used on dairy farms all over the world.
Read the feedbacks of some of our customers here!

Automatic milk management with the Ackermann family

“I run a versatile organic farm in Switzerland with my family and employees. Previously, we had to carry the milk for the calves about 80 meters to the calf barn. We were looking for a cost-effective alternative and opted for the automatic milk management system from Förster-Technik. Here, the fresh milk is transported from the milking robot to the calf barn in an underground pipe. This is a great relief for us as a family and also for our employees. There is less physical work, it takes much less time and the group housing with the automatic feeder also works very well.

The calves in groups are better socialized and labor is also much easier for us. We are already planning a second group to separate the smaller from the larger calves.”

– Matthias Ackermann –

Watch the video of Matthias Ackermann here!

Farm profile

Plant manager: Matthias Ackermann

Location: Wolfwil / Canton Solothurn, Switzerland

Branch of business: Organic farm with dairy cattle farming, dairy, farm store and more

Number of animals: 100 dairy cows, 90 calves per year

Feeding technology for calves: An automatic feeder with two feeding stations, MilkCollector and SmartTank, in use since March 2021

HygieneBox with Christoph Wolf

“We have been working with our new VARIO smart automatic feeder since March 2020 and have added three HygieneBoxes due to the increasing number of animals. This means we can feed the calves at three stations at the same time. We opted for the HygieneBox because it focuses on both hygiene and natural drinking behavior. The teat is cleaned from the outside after each calf and dirt and milk residues are rinsed into the draining bowl. The natural udder bumping behavior can be clearly observed, as the calves finally have the opportunity to act it out by lifting and pushing the teat. This results in a great stretching of the neck.

I find this head position particularly useful for training the gullet reflex. The work involved with our automatic feeder is mainly refilling and checking the animals. We are very happy with it and save a lot of time compared to the previous bucket feeding system.”

– Christoph Wolf –

Farm Profile

Plant manager: Christoph Wolf

Location: Dietrichingen / Rhineland-Palatinate

Branch of business: Dairy farming

Cattle breed: Black and white

Number of animals: 260 dairy cows, 250 calves per year

Feeding technology for calves: An automatic feeder with three HygieneBoxes, in use since March 2020

HygieneBox at Wilhelm Gerhard

“When building our new calf barn, we attached great importance to work efficiency and animal comfort.
That’s why we opted for the Förster technology concept with HygieneBox.
The concept of separating the waste and waste water side from the animal area convinced us.
In my daily routine, I can now check the drain pan without having to dismantle parts or enter the calf area.
The design and the advantageous visibility also make a more efficient morning routine possible.

Cleaning the teat from the outside after each calf always ensures a clean teat and also removes milk residue and dirt from the drainage tray.
Most of the animals get used to drinking with the HygieneBox by themselves thanks to the learning effect and the calves can also fully develop their natural udder pushing behavior.
– As a farm manager, I am pleased to see how animal-friendly and species-appropriate feeding with the HygieneBox is.”

– Wilhelm Gerhard –

Farm profile

Plant manager: Wilhelm Gerhard

Location: Diemelsee / Hesse

Branch of business: Dairy farming

Cattle breed: Fleckvieh

Number of animals: 300 dairy cows, 290 calves per year

Feeding technology for calves: An automatic feeder with HygieneBox, in use since 2020

CalfRail on the Gögler farm

“Our calves are reared in the old barn and the CalfRail was easy to integrate into the existing barn.
Training the calves with CalfRail is easy. Our calves are fed three times a day with CalfRail. After four to six weeks, the calves are moved to group housing. With CalfRail it is definitely a lot less work to feed the calves than with buckets. And the heavy physical work is eliminated.”

– Thomas Gögler –

Farm Profile

Operations manager: Thomas Gögler

Location: Legau in Bavaria

Branch of business: Dairy farming

Cattle breed: Braunvieh, Fleckvieh and Holstein

Number of animals: 60 dairy cows, 65 calves per year

Calf feeding technology: An automatic feeder for a group of calves and a CalfRail unit, in use since 2014

CalfRail on the Kohl farm

“We used to feed our calves four liters in a bucket twice a day. With the CalfRail, we now feed our calves smaller portions five times a day. The result is amazing: our calves are much fitter and more energetic and gain weight faster. We no longer have any problems with calf diarrhea thanks to the smaller portions and the fact that we feed them throughout the day. We also save over an hour of working time every day – we would never want to go back to bucket feeding!”

– Matthias Kohl –

Farm Profile

Plant manager: Family Kohl

Location: Geroda in Bavaria

Branch of Business: Dairy cattle with female offspring

Cattle breed: Fleckvieh

Number of animals: 90 dairy cows, 100 calves per year

Calf feeding technology: One automatic feeder for two groups of calves and one CalfRail unit, in use since 2017

CalfRail on the Franz farm

“The main advantages of CalfRail are the reduction in workload, time savings and on-time feeding of the calves four times a day.
For 45 to 50 calves, we now save two hours of work on the calves per day.
By using CalfRail, we only need one person for the calves instead of two.
We have been feeding our group calves with an automatic feeder from Förster-Technik since 2008, so it was easy to get used to the new system.
After the individual housing phase, the calves are simply transferred to the group at the automatic feeder.”

– Michael Franz –

Farm Profile

Operations manager: Michael Franz

Location: LKR Hof in Bavaria

Type of business: Dairy cattle and young cattle farming

Cattle breeds: Simmental and Holstein-Friesian

Number of animals: 220 dairy cows, 280 calves per year

Calf feeding technology: One automatic feeder for one calf group, one automatic feeder for two CalfRail units, CalfRail in use since 2013

CalfRail on the Klug farm

“Our calves receive colostrum for three days. They are then familiarized with the CalfRail and are fed 2.5 liters of feed five times daily. We decided in favor of CalfRail because the calf data can be easily accessed in the program, feeding times can be set precisely, feed temperature is always optimal and the precise feed quantity and concentration are always indicated.”

– Markus Klug –

FARM pROFILE

Plant manager: Familie Klug

Location: Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt

Branch of business: Dairy cattle with female offspring and arable farming

Cattle breed: Holstein-Friesian

Number of animals: 250 dairy cows, 240 calves per year

Feeding technology for calves: An automatic feeder for a CalfRail unit, in use since 2015

KompaktPasteur on the Rautenkranz farm

“We have been marketing our farm milk ourselves since 2016 – naturally fresh and directly from our farm.
Our compact pasteurizer from Förster-Technik is in use every day.
Thanks to its small size and compact design, it fits perfectly into our farm and impresses with its simple and uncomplicated operation, which simplifies our daily work.
The KompaktPasteur is reliable and supports us in the direct marketing of our milk.
If we have any questions, we can count on the excellent customer service from Förster-Technik.”

– Helmut Rautenkranz –

Farm Profile

Plant manager: Familie Rautenkranz

Location: Waldkappel-Schemmern in Hesse

Branch of business: Dairy cattle with female offspring

Cattle breed: Holstein-Friesian

Number of animals: 85 dairy cows, 75 calves per year

ColostroFIT on the Heim farm

“To give all our calves a perfect start in life and to have clear work processes, we decided on a ColostroMAT.
This enables us to pasteurize the colostrum and create a high-quality colostrum bank.

I opted for the ColostroMAT for three reasons: The system makes it easy to bring the colostrum to the correct drinking temperature.
Cleaning is quicker with the ColostroBAGs and the ColostroMAT, and the ColostroBAGs eliminate the need for transferring to different containers.

When calving begins, we start the ColostroMAT and heat the colostrum.
We can now feed the calves colostrum immediately after birth and are delighted to have healthy animals that start life with lots of energy and strength.”

– Pascal Heim –

Farm Profile

Plant manager: Pascal Heim

Location: Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland

Branch of business: Dairy cattle with female offspring

Cattle breed: Red Holstein and Holstein

Number of animals: 90 dairy cows, 100 calves per year

Drinking technology for calves: ColostroMAT, in use since 2015