Outdoor milking in Klovtoft

Outdoor milking in Klovtoft

On Rødaagaard farm, the cows are milked outdoors twice a day with a Dairymaster Mobistar. Martijn Berends doesn’t miss the three red robots in the cowshed.

At Rødaagaard in Klovtoft, near Rødekro, Martijn Berends has swapped his milking robots for the Dairymaster milking system. Twice a day, the cows are driven out of the shed to the outdoor milking parlour.

The solution has given far more satisfaction, quality and freedom, says Martijn Berends.

‘The milking parlour is cheaper to operate than the robots. It has brought much better milking technique, and I’ve got milk quality more under control too’, he says.

Better cell counts and less power

After a few adjustments, the cell count of the milk is tip-top – from 220,000 to 110,000 – which has meant a higher milk yield. Martijn also uses solutions and teatdip from Milcotec, which Martijn is convinced have also had a positive effect on the improved milk quality.

At the same time, Martijn Berends is saving between DKR 8,000 and DKR 10,000 per month on electricity alone!

‘The milking parlour helps keep costs down in several ways. For instance, why create more space and put up new buildings when the milking parlour can be outside?’, says Martijn Berends.

Martijn has taken out a three-year lease from Milcotec on the milking parlour and isolation box, with a view to buying when the three years are up. The three old robots have been bought and sold on by Milcotec on Martin’s behalf. The fact that the milking parlour is only on hire also helps to keep costs down. Martijn has opted to expand his milking system, so he has ordered a cow mover, which will be delivered soon. He is leasing the cow mover from Milcotec, too.

More freedom and greater satisfaction

Martijn Berends has had the milking parlour since February this year, and he is very satisfied with the solution:

‘Although we have to hand-milk twice a day, and although it happens outdoors, I get much greater satisfaction and freedom using the Dairymaster. It’s really nice in the summer, and maybe a bit cold and not so nice in the winter, but you get used to that’, says Martijn Berends.

Future plans

Martijn and his wife Melissa do the morning milking themselves, and in the afternoon their Ukrainian assistant Sasha comes to milk the 200-plus dairy cows. Milking takes about 2½ hours each time.

Martijn and Melissa Berends came to Denmark from the Netherlands in 2013. For the first year and a half, they each worked on their own property in Rødekro. They bought Rødaagaard in the summer of 2014. The plan is eventually to expand the herd by 100 cows – at present, the herd numbers 260 cows and calves plus 160 heifers.

The Berendses also farm 114 hectares of maize, grass and fodder beet.