Details about the farm

Details about the farm:

• 55 hectares of light sandy ground: 11 hectares of permanent grassland; 44 hectares in crop rotation system, of which: 22 hectares of grass, 10 hectares of green maize, 6 hectares of MKS (maize cob silage) and 6 hectares of GPS (whole plant silage) spring barley
• Quota: 671,000 kg milk, 4.33% fat
• 80 dairy cows, 50 young cattle
• Titan twin-box automatic milking system (mobile milking machine)
• Slatted floor in the lying stalls to reduce NH3 emissions
• Additional feed storage space for own concentrated feed
• Additional manure storage space (for 8 months) due to short manure application period
• Manure fermenting plant with co-product fermentation option
• Biogas washing plant for supplying gas to the natural gas grid and for use as tractor fuel
• Manure separation plant with storage area for both thick and thin fractions
• 1.2 hectares of countryside (buffers) accessible via the ‘Markepad’ trail.

Features of our farming methods:

• Our farming focuses on having a low farm surplus and soil surplus of nitrogen and phosphate in order to minimise our impact on the soil, water and air
• Low volume of manure application:
  No artificial fertiliser that contains nitrogen or phosphate is used. Animal manure is distributed efficiently across the crops. Manure is separated into thick and thin fractions, with targeted deployment to make best possible use of minerals.
• Crop rotation system: 3 years grass, 2 years maize, 1 year spring barley
• Grass sown under maize acts as a nitrogen catch crop
• Balanced diet for dairy cattle; normal feed in respect of VEM (feed unit milk) and DVE (intestinally digestible protein)
• Limited grazing of dairy cattle for max. 6 hours per day; from 1 September, cattle housed indoors in their stalls
• Few young cattle, so there is room to cultivate farm’s own concentrated feed
• MKS and maize straw harvested in single operation; dairy cows given the energy-rich cobs via computer-controlled feed containers, which means cost savings as less of the concentrated feed needs to be bought in
• Autumn grass is ensiled on top of the maize straw and fed as mixed feed to the dry cows and older young cattle
• Co-fermentation of manure and other products creates own energy supply and reduces greenhouse gases
• In the event of drought, sprinkling is needed to ensure efficient use of minerals and a good crop yield. A sprinkling programme is used to ensure responsible water usage
• The combination of mechanical and chemical weed control measures means low environmental impact on water and soil
• The profitability of the individual measures and of the whole farm are important yardsticks

Standard winter diet
Basic diet: 45% grass silage, 50% green maize, 5% grass seed hay or natural grass silage with added resistant soya.
Details of diet: Standard feed for VEM and DVE, and for OEB (unresistant protein balance).
RE (raw protein) content of diet: 14.5%
Target value for tank urea content: 15 – 20

The basic diet must achieve an energy and protein balance. We supplement this diet with two types of concentrated feed fed via the mobile milking machine and concentrated feed boxes, known as ’production morsels’ and ‘standard morsels’

Milk production
Annual moving average (October 2010)

Business economics-based profit and loss account 2009/2010
(€/100 kg milk, excl. VAT)