Peter Heiniger senior founded the farm in 1977 and his son Peter junior took over the business in 2012. Ferme Bernerhof is a Dairy Farm with 280 head of cattle, 140 in lactation for a production of 180kg/day. Ferme Bernerhof has 400 acres of land where they cultivate corn and hay.

The Heinigers purchased a Teagle 505M for adding fiber to the ration. They use 2.5kg of dry hay per ration for the lactating cows and 6.5kg for the cows in calving preparation. They shred 30 large square bales a month, dry storing and used daily for adding to the self-propelled mixer along with silage.

Before the purchase of the Teagle 505M, the Heinigers used to add the dry uncut material evenly to the ration, however as the dry material was longer than the silage the cows sorted the dry material (as it was less palatable) and did not eat it. With the clean and constant length cut that the 505M provides the sort has been completely eliminated and the cows consume all the fiber.

“The cut must be absolutely uniform to avoid the cows sorting through the ration and the clean cut ends help to scratch the rumen of the cow and improve the assimilation of nutrients in the diet. Adding fiber to the diet improves the balance between protein and energy. “It’s like a triangle, you need to get the best balance between protein, energy and fiber to have the best results.” Getting more fiber into the diet also has other benefits, as well as increasing the butterfat by .2% after only 2 weeks it has added health benefits of improving the BHB levels and fertility and there has been a marked decrease in problems with acetonemia (glucose deficiency). Labour time is reduced by the simplicity of operation and maintenance, making it faster and safer than a forage harvester along with the added benefit of it being more affordable.