FARM REPORT ▶▶▶
Germany: Dairy farming a different way pays off
Rainer Schmitt’s 370 dairy cows are grazing in two groups. Only the close up group of cows are in the barn. This is remarkable, because in almost every part of Germany, and especially in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), keeping cows inside is the norm.
BY ROBERT BODDE “T Profile
Name: Rainer Schmitt (46) is farm manager and owns a quarter share of Agrargenossenschaft Baruther Urstromtal in Baruth/ Mark. It contains two separate farms. Farms: The first farm has 450 Jerseys with 450ha of grassland and feed crops. The second farm is a dairy farm 3km away that was acquired in 2019, with 400 Holstein cows on 1,000ha (partly arable farming). Milk: These Jerseys are five years old on average and produced 6,441kg of milk with 5.3% fat and 4.14% protein in 2019, which was an extremely dry year. This results in 620kg of fat and protein per year. Calving: The time between calvings is 406 days.
his is not Germany, this is Brandenburg,” smiles the Bavaria-born German. “We devi- ate from the norm, that is for sure.” The fresh-calved cows and the highly pro-
ductive animals graze 10 hours per day around the home lo- cation where they are milked. The gestating cows graze two
kilometres away at a second milking parlour. All parlours are 2×14 side-by-side barns, which were renovated in 2014. The milkers start at the home location and then move to the other location.
Not mainstream methods It is not just the pasturing that is a far cry from mainstream dairy methods. When you drive to the farm, your attention is immediately drawn to the bright colours. The office is painted in bright yellow and green. “I hated that boring con- crete when I started here as a herd manager in 2008. When I became farm manager and main shareholder in 2014, I had it painted immediately – at least, the part that catches your eye when you drive down the road. Behind it are still many grey buildings.” Every roof is covered with solar panels. “A solar company replaced our old roofs. They installed the panels and use the roofs for free for 20 years. After that, we will be the owners.” The barns, in typical GDR fashion, were all built for longevity in the early 1970s. Several of them were modified around the year 2000, converted from stanchion to free-walk hous- ing and cubicle barns. “In the free-walk housing, in winter we use ten large bales of straw per day for 170 cows. In the part with the cubicles, 1.5 bales are enough for the same amount of cows.” However, he is not considering any chang- es. “We have enough straw from our own land. The fresh and high-productive cows are doing very well in the deep litter barn.” Another move away from the standard way is the breed. Only 3,500 purebred Jerseys are registered in Germany. Schmitt owns one out of every eight. “When I started here, there were 50 Jerseys, 150 Holsteins and 200 F1’s, F2’s and F3’s. Rotation crossing is certainly interesting, but I am a breeder. That means you have to work with just one breed. The eco- nomics is very important; at this moment at this company, Jerseys just work best. They need little feed. You can feed three Jerseys with the feed of two Holsteins. They produce around 7,000 litres in a normal year, with up to 6% fat and over 4% protein. Three Jerseys produce more kilogrammes of fat and protein per year than two Holsteins with 14,000kg of milk. Our processor Müller pays an annual premium on the base price of € 0.10/litre on average for this fatty milk. We receive € 0.01 extra for VLOG (Verband Lebensmittel
8 ▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 7, No. 4, 2020
PHOTOS: HENK RISWICK
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