Dairy - Stokman Farm, Holland
Operations
Focussing on core business
The farm’s core business is to produce milk and grow grass as economically and efficiently as possible. To enable the farm to be able to focus on this core business, the calf rearing is no longer carried out on the farm and is undertaken by specialist rearers. Not only is the rearing of heifer calves a time-consuming activity requiring careful attention, it also requires significant financial investment. At two weeks of age heifer calves are sold to the specialist rearer and then four weeks prior to calving the heifers are purchased back by the farm. The sale/purchase costs are based on the current market value for the animal.
Robotic milking systems
The farm is a major advocate of robotic milking; having had the first two robots installed over 10 years ago, they have now invested in four new units which have taken pride of place in the new dairy building. The advantages of this system is not only the labour saving aspect (as mentioned under Staff) but the fact that cows are able to choose when they are milked. Depending on the stage of lactation and yield this can be anything from two to five times per day. There is also an improvement in milk yields due to the increased milking frequency.
All the cows are identified by a micro-chip inside a neck collar. As they enter the stall they are immediately identified by the computer, which calculates whether the cow needs to be milked or not. If the cow requires milking she is fed a pre-determined amount of food and then the robotic milker’s laser system scans the cows' teats, cleans them and automatically attaches the clusters. There are several benefits to this system, the major benefit being that each quarter of the udder is milked individually (which is not the case for conventional milking systems). Other aspects such as milking speed, milk conductivity and yield are monitored, and this information is then used as an early warning method for any potential health problems that may occur.
Reducing lameness
The highest incidence of lameness on many dairy farms occurs over the winter housing period, which is why this farm has a strict routine of weekly foot-bathing. This routine has been carried out over the last 12 years with great success; there are no infectious hoof conditions prevalent on the unit and locomotion scoring is undertaken six times per year. With the use of locomotion scoring the farm is able to identify any cows with specific lameness issues and correct action can be implemented. All cows are also checked and trimmed (as required) by a professional foot-trimmer three times a year, allowing close monitoring of all cows feet on a regular basis by a trained and competent professional.
The flooring in the dairy housing is automatically scraped every hour. This stops the “wave effect” of a large amount of slurry being pulled through the building, which increases the contamination of cows’ legs. The corrosive mixture of faeces and urine can have a damaging effect on the hoof.
Specialist measures are taken to reduce the incidence of leg injury and lameness; including weekly foot bathing and automatic hourly scraping of the dairy house flooring.