GOING IS REALLY HARD IN HOLLAND
GOING IS REALLY HARD IN HOLLAND
By Jessica Buss
DUTCH dairy farms need to grow to survive, but they must be very profitable to do so, with high prices for land and quota.
Gerrit Boschloo started out by renting the 28ha (70 acre) Covik Farm in west Holland with £3000 of his own money and £9000 borrowed from the bank. Now he owns Covik Farm and rents a further 10ha (25 acres).
He believes he would be unable to buy his farm if he was starting out today and is concerned whether there is a future in dairy farming for his son Hans. Many milk producers have been forced to quit with high land and quota prices, he says.
Quota currently costs 11p/kg of milk to lease and £1.10/kg to buy. Therefore, as yields have increased at Covik Farm, cow numbers have reduced from 82 cows at peak to 60 now. They also have 70 replacement heifers.
Land is also expensive, with high demand for housing and industry forcing agricultural land prices up.
"We are farming as a hobby and to pay the bank, but we like to work with cows," says Mr Boschloo.
The Boschloos have realised that with falling milk prices – this year they will receive just 21p/kg – maximising output does not lead to the highest profit. In the last 30 years cow yields have doubled, but they have allowed yields to fall from 11,200kg to 10,950kg over the last year, despite higher genetic potential.
"We have to be aware of our production costs. Feed costs are important – averaging 2.7p/kg through the year – and we can influence them."
But with land prices high and crops such as maize highly valued – trading for £600/ha (£240/acre) producing about 50t freshweight/ha (20t/acre) – forage is expensive to buy. On Covik Farm grass and maize crops produce 12-13t of dry matter/ha (5-5.25t/acre).
Winter diets are 60% grass silage and 40% maize silage with 10kg of concentrate/cow a day fed. Cows graze in summer, but still receive maize silage as 40% of their daily intake. Even though grass silage is made in two or three cuts, its cheaper to use a contractor, says Mr Boschloo.
"We want as few machines on the farm as possible." This allows contractor and machinery costs to be kept low at 3-3.6p/kg of milk produced. There is a wide range of machinery costs on Dutch farms, from 3p to 7.5p/kg, he says. "Even some one-man farms have three tractors – when they can only drive one at a time."
Although feeding costs must be controlled, milk quality is vital for optimum prices. Much of Hollands milk is used to produce cheese for export so milk protein is in demand.
This is also why the Dutch breeding index INET is based on improving protein production. Mr Boschloo selects high INET sires for use on the herd, but he is also interested in breeding cows with good type. He is currently serving cows with Celsius, Eastland Cash, Tornedo and Novalis.
Despite tough regulations for slurry and fertiliser use, Mr Boschloo believes in applying as much nitrogen fertiliser as he can.
Slurry is spread three times a year as it is highly valued for nutrients. But bagged fertiliser is cheap in comparison with land prices, so he applies about 300kg of N/ha (240 units/acre) to maximise land output. *