Today the groundbreaking begins for DeLaval’s big investment in modern dairy production
Hamra Farm has always promoted animal welfare and high quality. Today, the cows at the farm produce, on average, 12 200 kg ECM per cow per year and with this new investment, they hope to increase that number even further.
“We have always had a big focus on our animals and their well-being. That is part of our philosophy – good animal husbandry and long-term planning often result in good yield,” says Johan Bjurevall, Managing Director at Hamra Farm. “We are incredibly happy with the new possibilities the investment gives us. To be part of planning and building such a modern farm with a long-term focus is fantastic.”
The investment means doubling the number of cows, which has been carefully planned during the last years. “We have worked with the planning and preparation for the build for a long period now. The new barns will house 550 dairy cows and 500 young stock of the breeds SRB and Holstein. We currently have a good mix of these two breeds, and it has been successful for us for many years,” says Bjurevall.
In addition to Hamra Farm being run as a commercial dairy farm, it is used as a test farm where DeLaval products are being tested and developed and as a demonstration farm for customers. “That makes our job incredibly fun and exciting, but it also requires more planning now during our building project,” says Bjurevall.
The investment is made to continue the development of modern and sustainable milk production. “To continuously find new and innovative solutions for more sustainable milk production with a high focus on animal health is something we really believe in and that drives us at DeLaval. We can achieve that with the help of automatic solutions, more digital systems that e.g., give the farmer important information at the right time, and good animal knowledge and advice. We will see even more of that when the re-build of Hamra Farm is complete,” says Paul Löfgren, President & CEO at DeLaval. “It is a big day for us today, and to eventually be able to show this amazing facility make us extremely happy and proud. The plan is to have the first animals move in at the beginning of 2024,” says Löfgren.