BROCKVILLE — The largest rotary parlour in Ontario has been erected at Hillside farms north of Brockville.

The 36-stall parlour, a $500,000 investment ,will milk up to 150 cows in an hour.

"This time I spent big money and I feel good about it," said dairy farmer Jeff Pietersma, who milks 335 cows. A British Columbia farm might have the largest rotary parlour in Canada with 72 stalls. That farmer has 1,500 cows and milks around the clock.

Pietersma switched from a double-10 herringbone parlour and says he sees an increase in milk production from 25 litres a day per cow on average to 28 litres.

He began milking in the rotary parlour at the end of January and finds it farmer and cow friendly. " I like the cow flow," he says, adding that a cow walks straight into a stall on the rotary parlour, without having to turn or angle.

Pietersma grew up down the road and remembers his father starting out with one cow that pastured on a neighbour’s field.

Pietersma still rides his bicycle around the farm. He needs to. He owns 650 cows. Aside from the dairy barn he has three other barns: for calves, dry cows and heifers.