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Friday, November 21, 2008
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Campazu Dairy, Argentina
The Farm:
- Located in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America.
- Temperate weather with an average temperature of 20° C (maximum 38° C in January and minimum of 0° C in July.
- Rainfall ranges from 900 – 1000 mm per year, well distributed through out the year. There are no important prevailing winds.
- The farm has two milking parlors with each being run independently of the other, with a general manager for each parlor.
- The farm’s milk is sold to a local dairy known as La Serenisima which processes 5,000,000 liters per day. 70% of that is sold in Argentina and 30% is exported.
- Farms receive approximately .08 US dollars per liter
Farm Location: Argentina
Utilizing resources on the web we have found the following information relevant to the dairy industry in Argentina:
- Argentina has an area in excess of 3,000,000 Km2 (slightly more than four times the size of Texas) with a population in excess of 33,000,000.
- The dairy area has a moderate climate.
- Some dairies are located in the western region of Argentina (Mendoza province) which has a California type of climate, but the majority are located near the population centers of Buenos Aries, Cordoba and Santa Fe.
- Feed costs are low due to year-round pastures. Housing costs are low due to favorable temperatures.
Resources:
DairyLand: Argentina
DairyNet: The Argentina Dairy Industry
Farm Management:
The farm is individually owned
The owner's nephew is responsible for the farm's management. He usually works with consultants such as genetics, feeding, milk quality, mastitis and finance.
There are 18 employees
They have Standard Operating Procedures, written job descriptions and biosecurity procedures - thus making them one of the first establishments to be declared free of tuberculosis and brucellosis.
Nutritient Management:
Waste is handled with digester lagoons (anaerobic and aerobic).
The driest materials are spread on the fields mechanically.
There are no regulations governing the spreading of dried nutrients, just recommendations.
Feeding/Cropping:
Cows are fed pasture and TMR Corn silage (mainly in the winter with hay the rest of the year.
Energy comes from corn and barley grains and a protein concentrate.
Pasture components are clover, alfalfa, rye grass perennial. The protein level averages 19% crude protein
Milking:
Parlor #1 has 189 cows, Parlor #2 has 192 cows.
Parlor #1 has 21.9% in 1st lactation, 20% in 2nd lactation, 23.8% in 3rd lactation, 16.7% in 4th lactation, 17.4% in 5th lactation
Parlor #2 has 4.9% in 1st lactation, 29.3% in 2nd lactation, 13.7% in 3rd lactation, 6% in 4th lactation and 5.9% in 5th lactation
Lactation days = 211 in Parlor #1 and 190 in Parlor #2
Average lactation length is 321 days in Parlor #1, 333 days in Parlor #2
Calving interval is 448 days in Parlor #1 and 429 days in Parlor #2
Milking cows/total cows is 86% in Parlor #1 and 84.8% in Parlor #2.
Parlor #1 is a Herringbone parlor (low line) 8+8 ACR 5000
Parlor #2 is a Herringbone parlor (16) midi line ACR 5000
Milking is done 2x daily
Average production in Parlor #1 is 22 lts/day with Fat % of 3.73, Protein % of 3.26, SCC of 276,000 and UFC of 10.9
Average production in Parlor #2 is 18 lts/day with Fat % of 3.72, Protein % of 3.25, SCC of 163,000 and UFC of 14.8.
Milk is delivered once per day
Young Stock and Replacements:
There are 453 young stock: 125 calves and 328 heifers.
The replacement rate is 24.6%
Average age at first calving is 29.5 months
Calves are raised outside in a tied up system that rotates in an open corral
Artificial insemination and embryo transfers are used
Embryo transfer rate is 72% for fresh embryos and 65% for frozen embryos
All bulls are sold.
Housing:
The farm uses a pasture system with watering bowls and shade in the field.
Shade for the cows is provided by Eucalyptus trees.
Economics:
- Labor accounts for approximately 25% of the budget
- Consultants use 7% of the budget
Community:
The owners belong to a Breeders Association (ACHA-Asociacion de Criadores Holando Argentino).
They donate milk to several rural schools and institutions and also contribute to maintaining a school for handicapped children by donating desks, chairs and computers.
This is one of the most highly recognized establishments in Argentina. They are constantly awarded prizes for excellence and quality of cows and bulls. In 2001 they received a Milk Quality and Hygiene award and several times have gotten the N°1 Argentinean heifers award (local exhibitions)
Future:
Current plans involve the installation of an Alpro system.
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