Description

Practice abstract

The farm Stora Mu has 160 young cattle and 140 dairy cows and use milking robot. The farm lies in the very north of Sweden in the village Svartbyn outside the town Överkalix. Hulda Wirsén and Johan Liljebäck run the farm together with Johan’s parents Karin and Bert. 

Land is scarce around the stable and the robot milking sets the limits for grazing. The farm has a high milk yield and maintaining it that way is a priority. This is the set for continuous improvements in the grazing system wherever possible.  

The improvements are motivated by the possibility of using grazing as a good and cheap fodder with benefits such as animal health and hopefully higher yield. The location near the polar circle where the sun never sets during the growing season results in a high ley production that can be used. 

The land around the stable is divided into four paddocks for young cattle and two paddocks for dairy cows. The paddocks have been rearranged so there are more paddocks to use. When the dairy cows’ grazing season is over, the young cattle can graze these vacant paddocks. The pastures are re-established after four years at the latest, with undersown barley that is harvested as whole crop. 

Hulda and Johan have a continuous discussion about potential improvements on the farm and in the grazing management. More paddocks are desired for a more intensive and better utilised rotational grazing. Acquiring more land would be favourable, but at the same time Hulda and Johan want to have the pastures near the farm in order to have a proper animal surveillance. The pastures are fertilised in spring before the first grazing and could be fertilised more times in summer. The pastures could be re-established in pure stand which would result in a new pasture that could be used the same year. 

Context profil