In our new series Close to the Breeder, we present the family of Mr and Mrs Wielbut – dairy farmers from the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The year 2022 is a landmark in the history of the farm. A new free-stall barn, equipped with two milking robots with guided traffic, was put into operation.
The modern investment is impressive. We will show how the ‘move’ to the new facility was successful and how the feeding of the herd has changed.
Mr Janusz runs the family farm with his wife Małgorzata and children – daughters Kinga and Klaudia and son Bartosz. The core herd of dairy cows numbers 140, with a target of 208 in the barn, served by three milking robots. The facility is 66 metres long and 48 metres wide. The farmers farm 120 hectares.
– The investment changes everything, we went from conventional milking to an automated system,” says Bartek Wielbut. The barn is expected to improve animal welfare and health and also increase our welfare by reducing labour.
– The challenge of the new facility is to improve productivity, economics and increase the return on feeding inputs,” points out Daniel Marchelewski regional director of the cattle division at Agrocentrum.
The silos are fueled with Agro 20 ProRobot and Agro ExtraEnergia feed,” points out the advisor working with the farmers, “our challenge is to get the herd moving. We have to feed in such a way that the cows start walking.
There are four feed silos next to the new barn, leased from Agrocentrum. The two smaller ones are used for fodder in the milking parlours. The two larger ones, with a capacity of 31.3 tonnes each, are intended for storing so-called “protein”, i.e. rapeseed meal and soya meal. As Bartek Wielbut emphasises, the large capacity of the silos allows purchases to be made over a longer period of time, giving greater stability and maintaining a constant price for the raw material.
Continuous growth is embedded in our customers’ farm and, as Bartek says, his plans and dreams are for an even bigger herd.
We wish Mr and Mrs Wielbut every success in their new stage of breeding.
Close to the farmer
Agrocentrum
