Management of a modern barn

We present the fifth episode of the series Close to the Breeder. We visited a farm in the village of Srebrna in Podlaskie Voivodeship. The breeders were interviewed by Piotr Szybiński – director of the cattle division at Agrocentrum Group.

The film was produced in cooperation with Farm-M Partner https://farmpartner.eu – general distributor of milking installations and AfiMilk producer of solutions for breeders https://www.afimilk.com/.

Ewa and Arkadiusz Bączyk have been using a modern free-stall barn housing 300 dairy cows since 2021. The breeders are supported in their daily work by their 18-year-old son -Piotr, who, despite his young age, was involved in the process of designing the facility and selecting the solutions used from the very beginning. The trust of Mr and Mrs Bączyk in their son and their faith in the young generation is admirable. The teenager’s voice has repeatedly been decisive. The farmers are conscious parents and investors – one day it will be Piotr who will run the farm.

Currently, the herd numbers 650 cattle, of which 340 are dairy cows with 285 in milking,” says Arkadiusz Bączyk. Productivity oscillates around 10,000 litres of milk. There are plans to increase productivity while maintaining the economic parameters of the herd.

The new barn measures 96x38m. It accommodates two 4.2m-wide feed aisles located against the longitudinal walls of the building. These, in turn, are 3.40m high openings with steel mesh and curtains automatically controlled by a weather station.

The central part of the barn is occupied by a herd of dairy cows. The animals are housed in comfortable cubicles – located in 6 rows. The facility also includes isolation rooms with bedding for problem cows.

The heart of the barn is the milking parlour. The cowshed houses one of the most modern milking parlours of its type and size in the country, a 2×20 stall side-by-side milking parlour installed by Farm-M Partner. It is worth mentioning that the parlour is equipped with a heat recovery system for pre-cooling the milk.

An indispensable part of the barn’s operation is Afimilk’s AfiFarm herd management programme, which the farmers have opted for since the facility’s inception. The system collects individual information about each cow, allowing the efficient management of a herd of high-yielding cows.

– We are trying to feed the cows better and better, it is becoming normal for a cow to have to be fed this way and not that way – we have mastered that. (The base for roughage is maize silage and grass haylage with alfalfa). Herd management is a new topic. The system saves us time and human labour,” emphasises Arkadiusz Bączyk. On a daily basis, there is no one in the cowshed, Nas can be found in the facility until 8 a.m. and then from 5 to 7 p.m.,” says the farmer.

Eve is the main user of the programme – you can see at a glance that this is her hubby. No wonder, work has become easier and herd control is possible remotely. I have access to detailed data, analyses of farm trends, it allows us to get to know the cows’ needs even better,” admits the farm owner.

– Every morning I have a fresh dose of information about the cattle, their performance and their heat. Every cow is monitored at any time, I have the insemination windows visible in the programme, which show me the time when a particular cow should be covered,” says the breeder. As a result, reproduction and calf rearing is extremely efficient – the inter-calving period is – 368 days – which is the pride of the breeder.

Raising high-yielding dairy cows requires a great deal of commitment and work. A number of people work for high production results, and modern solutions and products come to the rescue. It is worth choosing ones that are truly effective. Our common goal is to help dairy farmers optimise their operations towards profitability and sustainability.

#Bliskohodowcy

#Agrocentrum