FARM REPORT ▶▶▶
A farm where dairy cows live longer
Chocolate-fed cows that live longer than the average dairy cow in the Netherlands are enjoying quite the life at a dairy farm situated in Bodegraven, South Holland province, where milk is also pasteurised and bottled on-farm.
BY ZANA VAN DIJK T Profile
Name: Yvonne and Jorden Oostdam Cows: 130 milk cows. 3 way cross – Montbéliarde, Holstein and Swedish Red. 55 youngstock on-farm. Milk: The farm produces 1.3 million kg of milk per year. With 4.8% butterfat and 3.6% protein Graze: Milk cows graze on 30 hectares. Youngstock and dry cows graze in the summer months. Milk cows start grazing as of end of April.
Bottling capacity: With the Lely Orbiter the farm has the capacity to bottle 300 litres per hour.
oday the farm, run by Yvonne and Jorden Oostdam and their children, boasts 130 cows. The family farm was first in the hands of Jorden’s parents in 1972. In those days the farm had just 40 cows. In 1994 Jorden
officially stepped into the family business to help run the farm, his wife Yvonne joined the business in 2001. The 130 cows
currently are a cross between Montbéliarde, Holstein and Swedish Red. The milk cows graze on 30 hectares of land, and the family also has an additional 15 hectares for other use.
Welfare and longer life “Our cows live about 1 year longer than the average cow in the Netherlands,” Yvonne says proudly. “We give them a good life and they are bred for longevity.” When the cows leave the farm they have produced about 43000kg milk. The average production from the Dutch cows leaving the farm is about 32000kg. Yvonne adds that the barn is light and airy with lots of natural light and air flowing through daily. The barn is rela- tively new and was built in 2008, keeping welfare of the cows in mind they wanted to have natural light and ventilation. “In the summer when it gets very hot, we have air coming out from the ventilation system which is situated above the cows, the air is blown on the back of the cows. This ventilation sys- tem helps to keep them cool.” Not only are the cows at the farm pampered with good ventilation and natural light. Yvonne says, “For more cow comfort there are no walls in this barn, the air flows through as the sides are kept open and there is a lot of light that comes in via the roof.” The sides of the barn are only closed during the winter when there is frost, otherwise it remains open during the year. To ensure udder health, better performance and milk produc- tion, and lying comfort the farm opted to use deep bedding with recycled organic material which comes from a horse farm, it’s not too dry and it stays cleaner for longer. “The cows have a better grip when they get up and also it makes it easi- er for them to stand up,” adds Yvonne. “Welfare is a big issue for us, here we are always thinking of welfare on-farm and how we can make it better for the cows,” says Jorden.
Chocolate for energy The cows get chocolate powder in their ration to boost ener- gy and milk production. “There is no residue in the milk, we’ve made sure of that,” says Yvonne. Grass silage is mainly fed along with sugar beet pulp. After 20 years in the ration, it is the first year without maize in the feed. The family run busi- ness is always on the lookout for new ingredients that can be added to the cow ration. Together with an advisor from an or- ganisation that offers advice on feeding and new possibilities in the dairy ration, the family is open to re-evaluating the ration every few months.
12 ▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 7, No. 2, 2020
PHOTO: ERNIE BUTS
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