New dairy setup in Denmark

[Serup]

A few pictures with current status

 

[Speedstar]

Did you get the steel work made in Denmark ?, I friend does a lot of that just outside Herring

 

[Serup]

Yes, we have quite a few companies in Denmark that produce this.

This is from DS Stål (DS steel) in Hobro.

 

[Speedstar]

Not one of Mr T Larsens then

 

[Serup]

I think you refer to Torben Larsen from Give stålspær? Then no, it's not from them.

I think the company building this, got quotes from 3 or 4 different companies and chose the cheapest one that could deliver within the timeframe they need to honour our schedule.

 

[RushesToo]

@Serup This is a wonderful story. Please keep telling us. There have been a few threads on the forum that have described builds, but I don't think any were this large. It will be an interesting history.
In Denmark are farms getting larger or is the government trying to stop this?

 

[Speedstar]

I think you refer to Torben Larsen from Give stålspær? Then no, it's not from them.

I think the company building this, got quotes from 3 or 4 different companies and chose the cheapest one that could deliver within the timeframe they need to honour our schedule.

Yes that's the man

 

[Serup]

@Serup This is a wonderful story. Please keep telling us. There have been a few threads on the forum that have described builds, but I don't think any were this large. It will be an interesting history.
In Denmark are farms getting larger or is the government trying to stop this?

I remember a thread here some time ago that i think was for 1000 cows or about, so much larger than mine.
And yes, farms grow very fast atm. They always do when there is a crisis, as banks close a lot of farms.
The average dairy farm have just shy of 200 cows now i think, and it's growing about 10-12 cows/year. total cow numbers are steady, but average yield is climbing so in total we make more and more milk on fewer and fewer farms.

 

[RushesToo]

@Serup

I remember a thread here some time ago that i think was for 1000 cows or about, so much larger than mine.
And yes, farms grow very fast atm. They always do when there is a crisis, as banks close a lot of farms.
The average dairy farm have just shy of 200 cows now i think, and it's growing about 10-12 cows/year. total cow numbers are steady, but average yield is climbing so in total we make more and more milk on fewer and fewer farms.

My first question is a bit strange, but I am trying to use easy words so that you can understand, your English is very good, Can I use difficult words and use them in an English construction and you will still understand? Are you bi-lingual and I can stop worrying

The real questions - What is the total of your farm growth for the first year -and if all goes well with ARLA how big will it be in five and ten years time?
I am interested because if the UK stays in the EU it will give a prediction [understanding] of how it will be in the UK

 

[Serup]

@Serup
My first question is a bit strange, but I am trying to use easy words so that you can understand, your English is very good, Can I use difficult words and use them in an English construction and you will still understand? Are you bi-lingual and I can stop worrying

The real questions - What is the total of your farm growth for the first year -and if all goes well with ARLA how big will it be in five and ten years time?
I am interested because if the UK stays in the EU it will give a prediction [understanding] of how it will be in the UK

I am not bi-lingual, but don't worry about it.

I bought the family farm just before christmas last year, after working for my father for quite some time. At that time, the total business included 100 ha owned land, 80 ha rented land, 180 cows and 210 heifers. Next time it's christmas, the current plan will include 100 ha owned land, 170 ha rented land, 300 cows and 320 heifers.

Then, going forward, my primary limitation will be getting enough land, or find another way to "get rid of" slurry. I need about 1 ha per cow, owned, rented or for some neighbour to take slurry on, to comply with the law. It's difficult to find someone who will take bigger amounts of slurry, as we have quotas on N and regulation on how much less N you can buy in fertiliser if you tage slurry from 1 cow. These regulations are so tough, that in reality, it's impossible to get the same plant-available N when you receive slurry that you do if only using fertiliser. So you often take a yield-hit when you take slurry, but usually you get it for free, so you save on buying fertiliser.

AD plants are being built around the country right now, and slurry from these are supposedly much easier to get the N from that you need to be at the same level as with fertiliser. So my hope is that these plants will make it easier to get slurry divided on a much larger area in the future, so farmers who want to have animals, can concentrate on that and not worry about buying the neighbours farm just to get more animals.

My "short term" (5-10 years) plan is to make another cubicle shed like this one, next to the one i'm making now and then milk 600-700 cows. If i can do that without buying any land, and only invest in the shed, the cows, expand the silage pit and making one more slurry tank, then i can make milk over 20% cheaper than this setup will do, as it will lower my debt/cow considerably. My main goal is to maximise the amount of milk i can make per £ i have lend. I believe those who have the lowest cost of production will stay in this game longer.
My main challenge to achieve this, will be making a sustainable plan to comply with the aforementioned environmental rules.

My father quadrupled the number of cows on this farm during his career. Those who didn't don't have cows anymore.
However, there are many environmentalists who are strongly against these "factories" and want regulation on size of farms, so i'm not sure it will be possible to just keep expanding at high rates to very high numbers in the near future. We don't have many farms with over 500 cows in Denmark right now, and those with over 1000, i think you can count on one hand. But time will tell. I just try to plan on being one of those (few) dairy farms that will survive until i'm ready for retirement.

As an answer to your question however, i will say that i don't believe my plans reflect the general plan on danish dairy farms.

 

[RushesToo]

I thought that you might be out of the ordinary and that was why I asked, Seems that you are following in your father's footsteps. I would like to think before I ask more..

By the way, your English is probably better than mine.

 

[cornishfarmer]

Get pics and nice to see you expansion plans. So far the comments have missed the elephant in the room. Cost and milk production.
1)cost your bank must be happy to lend money (assuming you have borrowed) or do you have young farmer grants?
2) production. Aren't you worried that the production in Europe has rocketed and the milk price is all but guaranteed to drop. probably 10% more? I know you're looking long term but this could be a 5+ year cycle.

 

[Serup]

Get pics and nice to see you expansion plans. So far the comments have missed the elephant in the room. Cost and milk production.
1)cost your bank must be happy to lend money (assuming you have borrowed) or do you have young farmer grants?
2) production. Aren't you worried that the production in Europe has rocketed and the milk price is all but guaranteed to drop. probably 10% more? I know you're looking long term but this could be a 5+ year cycle.

I have borrowed all money for this project. And i will say that it was not all that easy to get the money!

The average dairy farmer in Denmark needs about 28ppl to be able to pay the bills. I will be able to make it considerably cheaper than that. If i couldn't, i would not have got permission to do this. I believe that it will be the farms that can make milk cheap that will make it long term, so thats what i aim for. If i will succeed or not, remains to be seen. But this is what i want, and i believe in it, so now i give it a shot.
Right now i get 21ppl and we haven't planed for that to be any higher on average in the next 12 month.
I don't believe production worldwide will stay on a level that's higher than demand long term, as nobody can keep making it at a loss.
Basically we are all just waiting for the neighbour to give up and sell the cows.

 

[jimmer]

out of interest @Serup how old are you , and do you have kids/ family to carry on your future plans ?

 

[Serup]

out of interest @Serup how old are you , and do you have kids/ family to carry on your future plans ?

I'm 36. I've been married for 7 years and we've been together for 19 years. So she has never tried anything else - i this that is a crucial part of our success
We have 2 girls, who are 2 and 4 years old now, so i think it's a little early to speculate about what their future holds.
We have spent the last 10 years to get in a position where i am able to do this, so i like to tell myself that it's a well calculated risk, considering the current market

 

[cornishfarmer]

@Serup i find it interesting that in other countries sons buy their farms from their parents. Out of interest is it normally at full market rate? Also when/if you work for your parents before do you get paid like a full worker or just for board and lodgings plus pocket money?

 

[jimmer]

I'm 36. I've been married for 7 years and we've been together for 19 years. So she has never tried anything else - i this that is a crucial part of our success
We have 2 girls, who are 2 and 4 years old now, so i think it's a little early to speculate about what their future holds.
We have spent the last 10 years to get in a position where i am able to do this, so i like to tell myself that it's a well calculated risk, considering the current market

good on you i say , nice to hear another young enthusiastic person in our industry , we need more !!!!

 

[Serup]

@Serup i find it interesting that in other countries sons buy their farms from their parents. Out of interest is it normally at full market rate? Also when/if you work for your parents before do you get paid like a full worker or just for board and lodgings plus pocket money?

If you don't buy it, how then? Here everyone thinks thats the fair way, also considering other heirs. This way everyone gets a fair share, no matter if they have any interest in farming or not. I'm also told it means that we have a lot of debt, compared to other countries.
We have a "public value" on farms. If you trade it for less than 85% of that to family or other related (son in law) you will have to pay tax from the rest, because you've "been granted a gift", for which we have tax on in Denmark.

I think the norm about payment for family members looking to buy, is very different. I would estimate that a good guess would be that the payment is fair and "normal" in society, for 37 hours/week. The the other 37 we usually work, you can call whatever you want

 

[Serup]

A few pictures from today

Next week the parlour building should go up.

 

[jimmer]

i was thinking about this thread during milking and wondering how things were going

keep us up to date