INTERVIEW ▶▶▶ Snorri Sigurdsson, Arla Foods
“You would not expect farms in the deserts of China”
Do large-scale dairy farms come to mind when thinking of China? The last few years have seen a huge change in the dairy farming sector in China. Snorri Sigurdsson, senior project manager at Arla Foods, tells us more about how rapidly the sector is taking shape with some farms boasting tens of thousands of cows. With dairy farms even set up in the deserts of China, this impressive transformation is a trend predicted to continue as the country’s dairy industry is currently making huge leaps.
BY ZANA VAN DIJK
Tell me about some major changes you’ve seen in the Chi- nese dairy market over the last few years? The major change I have witnessed is for sure the rapid develop- ment from small farm holders to big farms. Only a few years ago we serviced and helped many farms with only a few dozen cows and possibly up to 200 cows, but today we visit hardly any farms with less than 500 cows and now we often visit farms with more than 1,000 cows. The main reason for this change in only a few years is definitely related to the growing dairy market in China that has led many companies into dairy farming, some of them building many farms with up to tens of thousands of cows. Many of those big farms have drawn in cows and employees from the small farms that at the same time have struggled to comply with the tough rules and regulations we have today for milk produc- tion in China. This has also led to impressive professionalism in the dairy farms that has given us a good foundation to improve the work routine at the farms. It has also led to a good increase in the daily yield of the cows. Now we are seeing the delivery of over 30kg, with the best farms producing a daily average of 40kg per cow. That is not easy to get from a farm with thousands of cows, so we are quite happy with this result.
6 ▶ DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 8, No. 2, 2021
Have farming practices changed rapidly and extensively in China? And how? The main change is related to the development of the farms from small to big. It has been a pleasant surprise to witness how open and willing the farmers and farm workers are to take on dairy farming advice, and also it is surprising how fast they have adjust- ed their approach or their way of working after being advised. I often wonder if their short time in the business possibly helps them to be more open to a different way of working with cows and milk production than farmers and farm employees who have been working with cows for generations. They do not question the advice they get and because of the structure of the work on the dairy farms in China, when the farm owner decides that things need to change, that change happens overnight! It’s truly amazing to observe.
In terms of nutrition, automation and milking practices, what are some of the major trends there? On the nutritional front we see dairy cows in China, mostly Hol- stein cows, that are fed a typical Total Mixed Ration (TMR) as in many other countries. Locally, farmers grow corn for silage produc- tion and some also have grass production or alfalfa but many do not grow their own protein source. A lot of the feed for the animals
PHOTOS: ARLA FOODS
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