Dairy - Stokman Farm, Holland
Introduction
Anton Stokman’s parents purchased this dairy unit in Friesland in 1964, with Anton taking over the farm in 1985. Over the following 10 years he expanded the herd to 120 cows, and purchased two Lely robotic milkers in 1998. During this time period water beds were installed in the cubicles with the aim to improve cow comfort.
A new, purpose built 240-cow dairy facility has been constructed and the cows have just moved into this modern accommodation (as of February 2009). Although there are currently only 140 cows in the herd, the benefit of building this larger capacity shed will enable rapid expansion once quotas are phased out (in 2015). The new building consists of many of the long-standing good practices (robotic milking and water beds) and this project has enabled other new developments to be included in the facility and the philosophy of “Free Choice” for the cow still stands. The herd are Holstein cows which calve all year round, ensuring a constant supply of milk to the local processor.
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