Xavier Hardouin has been working at the Prignes farm for 18 years. After the successive departures of his three partners, his wife Cécile joined him in 2018.
"In 2005, there were four of us on 160 ha producing 450,000 litres of milk. Today, there are two of us on 210 ha and we produce 1,050,000 litres of milk", he explains.
Fewer staff, more hectares and more milk produced... We had to find a way of keeping up the pace and freeing up time, given that the days are not extensible! And that meant getting rid of two machines that no longer met their new needs.
"We had two tools, a paddles mixer with a capacity of just 10 m3 and a mounted straw blower. This meant two tractors were blocked, but also two passages for the cows because of the low capacity. So we switched to a 22 m3 straw blower, the Spirmix 220 Jet, to have just one tool and double the capacity for the size of the farm", recalls the 37-year-old farmer.
But before opting for a Lucas G feeder, Xavier obviously took the time to compare it with the competition by scheduling a number of demonstrations.
The one offered by Lucas G was much more to his liking.
« The demo took place over three days. I was able to see an 18 m3 Spirmix and handle it myself. Unlike your competitor, who only came for one day, I wasn't able to touch or handle anything. That's it, the job's done! »
+ 400 litres more milk in a week
thanks to a more even ration
The demonstration confirmed his initial impression: "The competitor's machine didn't meet our needs. It was much taller than the Lucas G, so with our old buildings, it wouldn't fit underneath. And the straw blower system didn't suit us at all. With this competitor, the straw goes straight from the auger to the turbine, with no shredder in between, so it's less regular and if there's a bit of straw stuck to it, the result isn't quite right".
The farmer also compliments the design of the Spirmix Lucas G "with a well-reinforced tank bottom", as well as the chute system. "The competing brand offers a chute that adds height. With the low buildings we have, we'd have straw on the roof", he jokes.
