Dairy Farm
Economically feasible production and delivery of good quality milk to the local community and beyond is the main goal of the Dairy Farm. Therefor the farm keeps a large number of Frisian cows and breeds them through artificial insemination. Sikko Eisma, our own Frisian Cow farmer from the Netherlands, manages the farm, assisted by Farm Manager Edward, herders and milkers.
Economisch haalbare productie en levering van melk van goede kwaliteit aan de lokale gemeenschap en daarbuiten is het hoofddoel van de Dairy Farm. Daartoe houdt de boerderij een flink aantal Friese koeien en fokt deze door kunstmatige inseminatie. Sikko Eisma, onze eigen Friese Koeboer uit Nederland beheert de boerderij, geassisteerd door Farmmanager Edward en bijgestaan door herders en melkers.
Edward is trained in keeping a digital record of the milk production per cow, the food provided, diseases and treatments and the weather conditions. In this way we try to discover which factors influence the milk yield of a cow and we can use that knowledge to improve milk production.
The average milk production per cow is just under 5 liters per day and with an average of 34 lactating cows, the average daily production is around 170 liters. We recently bought a bull, Elijah. The reason for this is that we want to use every opportunity when a cow is in heat.
A bull is more alert to cows in heat than humans. Hopefully, together with artificial insemination, the bull will produce good lactating offspring. It has now become apparent that bull Elijah is doing his best, because we have already had a baby boom with 15 calves. Most male offspring are sold. We strive to get more out of the sale of bull calves by growing them better and selling them after 6 months.
In general, the spread of disease cannot be properly controlled if local livestock graze in the immediate vicinity of the farm’s livestock. This requires constant care to change roads and add fences so that infectious diseases are less likely to spread.
The total area of agricultural land is 90 hectares. A good deal is grown with maize and sorghum, which are used for silage.
