Double Creek Dairy in Merced, California reports $171,000 a year saved going pellet-free on eight DeLaval V300s. Run the same play in a 240-cow free-flow retrofit and the first-year math points to a $44,000 to $71,000 hole.

The Bullvine Podcast breaks down the AMS pellet-free pitch sweeping spring 2026 dealer meetings. Rodenburg's traffic data pegs free-flow fetch rates at 16% of the herd per day versus 8.5% in guided-flow. That gap decides whether pellet-free survives contact with your barn — before a single ration change.

What You'll Learn

• Why Matt Strickland's $171K pencils at Double Creek but may not pencil at yours
• The 10-week transition curve: 9-12% milk drop and what it costs a 240-cow herd
• Free-flow vs. guided-flow: the barn-walk test every operator should run
• Why pellet cost alone ($132-$500 ...