Owners of a Swadro 710 T

Where do you find today's progressive dairy operator? Most of the time he is on the computer in the office monitoring multiple phases of a bustling business. That's where we found Mark Henry, owner of Four Henry Holsteins near West Liberty, Ohio. Expanding on a family operation started by Mark's father in 1959, Mark and his son Jarred are taking their operation to the highest levels of productivity.

With 500 cows and 400 heifers, the Henry's have a lot of mouths to feed 365 days a year. A ration of corn silage, dry hay, haylage and other ingredients are fed to the herd daily using a vertical TMR mixer. All cows receive a balanced, total mixed ration. Part of this nutritional balance is forage that is gathered with a Krone SW 710 T twin rotor rotary rake. This is the second Krone rake for the Henry operation. Located in the rolling hills of Logan county Ohio, the Henry's needed a rake that would follow the contours of their rolling ground. "The rake follows the ground nicely, and the design of the machine allows the rotors to raise high enough for clean headland turns," noted Mark. "We usually put 40' in one windrow, depending on crop volume, to feed our big baler."

Equipment speed and size greatly improve the odds in making quality hay, especially with a narrow window of opportunity that comes with the humid days faced by Ohio haymakers. "The hay dries faster and the windrows are much fluffier," remarked Jarred, "it makes baling a lot easier job." Occasionally, the Henry's have utilized the SW 710 T's ability to make two smaller windrows with the same machine. "Most times our window of opportunity is from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm, shooting to rake 90 acres. "The SW 710 T gives us the ability to go big or small while still covering the acres we need to."

As with most machine purchases made today, parts and service are a huge part of the equation. When asked why a Krone rake, Mark commented, "Our dealer." "Fred and his team make sure that they keep us going," referring to Channell Equipment Co. in nearby Urbana, Ohio.

Quality machines, people and cattle come together to make up Four Henry Holsteins. With a dynamic vision and great facilities tied to progressive management, the Henry's run a successful and growing dairy operation.