Description

Practice abstract

The farm Torpet lies in Southwest Sweden. Sofia and Gustav Kämpe have 220 cows and use milking robot and are expanding to 285 cows. The farm is 350 ha whereof a great part is semi-natural grasslands: 70 ha. The pastures are grazed by dairy breed/Angus-steers, heifers and dry cows. 

Biodiversity is important and a strong driving force on the farm. The strong commitment and the pride in managing semi-natural grasslands and producing biodiversity play a big role in the farm’s activities. Society is willing to pay for the ecosystem services through agri-environmental payments and this is a part of the farm’s economy. Maintenance in winter and the daily animal surveillance in summer takes a lot of time but makes it possible for the farm to have year-round employees. 

Sofia and Gustav are engaged in several organisations. They pay great interest in contact and interaction with society. Meetups and field walks are frequent on the farm. There are many interesting and important species on the land, which have been investigated by biologists, and the pastures are managed differently according to the needs of the red-listed species, for example grazing intensity and time to start grazing. 

In the near future there is a potential for more semi-natural grasslands and the farm tries to expand whenever possible. Wolves in the area is a threat. Predator deflecting fences may be necessary. At the same time there is a great potential in virtual fencing and new technology for daily animal surveillance. A never ending job is preventing the pastures from overgrowing with trees and shrubs and the farm has recently invested in a powerful topper for this purpose (heavy-duty mower that is used to trim the vegetation to a certain height).

Context profil