Description

Practice abstract

When you graze cows in a peat meadow area, you face several challenges. This also applies to dairy farmer Jan Vonk from Goudriaan (115 dairy cows, 61 hectares, milking parlor). 

Peatland areas are characterized by very narrow, long parcels surrounded by ditches. The parcels of Vonk consist of clay and peat. The parcels have moderate drainage and low carrying capacity and are susceptible to trampling. They are suitable for grassland and grazing but less suitable to other agricultural use and heavy machinery.  

Grazing of cows in a peat meadow area requires appropriate management. By maximum grazing (more than 200 days a year, day and night), grasslands are optimally used. To provide each cow with concentrates individually, it is given in the milking parlor during milking. After the cows have been milked in the milking parlor, they walk about 1.5 kilometers along a narrow cow path of about 1 meter wide to one of the pastures (grazing system: New Dutch Grazing, i.e. compartmented continuous grazing). The narrow path works well: cows naturally walk behind each other. When additional grass silage or hay is fed during the summer period, it is baled to prevent heating. 

Because of the narrow parcels with high susceptibility to soil compaction, the dairy farmer avoids heavy machinery as much as possible. For necessary work with machines, contractors are hired because they have special machines adapted to the narrow plots. 

Context profil