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Farm/dairy name: Vakkamäki farm, Vihti, Finland
Owners: Mirja Vakkamäki and her son Jussi Vakkamäki
No of dairy cows: 44
Breed of cows: 65 % Holstein-Friesian and 35 % Ayrshire
Milking system: DeLaval pipeline milking
Number of milkings per day: Two
“Our partner is DeLaval. A dairy farmer’s work can be light, when you have the sense to invest in yourself and in the machines at the right time"
Milk has been produced at Vakkamäki farm in Vihti for over one hundred years. In the early 1950’s there were only six cows on the farm, but by 1975 there were already 30 and this was a large number for a Finnish dairy farm at that time. Plans to extend the barn were already in place by the year 2000 but the sudden death of then farm owner Pentti, called a temporary halt to the extension plans. With the whole family’s determination, persistence and faith in dairy farming the plans were finally put into action in 2004.
The farm’s residents include Mirja Vakkamäki, Jussi Vakkamäki, Johanna Kojonen and 81 year old Paavo Vakkamäki. The family’s daughter Johanna Vakkamäki is currently studying at the University of Helsinki to become a veterinarian.
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The farm’s average milk yield has been around 10,000 kilograms for over 10 years. It has been reached with “low-cost input in production and by investing in the right things for milk production, such as the silage quality, the well-being of the animals and the ease of work” say the owners.
The cows at Vakkamäki are long-lived and hardy. The average age of cows culled is over six years, raising their lifetime yield close to 40,000 kilograms of milk. This figure is almost double the Finnish statistical average. In 2005, Vakkamäki celebrated its first cow producing 100,000 kilograms of milk. In 2005, the farm’s milk fat was 4.13 percent with 3.46 percent protein.
Five DeLaval milking unit MU350 equipped with take-offs are used at Vakkamäki. The owners believe that seeing the amount of milk from every animal on each milking is very important. “If their milk amount has changed from the previous milking, it is much easier to start looking for a possible problem.” Cloth udder towels and Trionet™ udder soap are used in the preliminary milking routine, then Blockade™ teat dip after milking.
The Vakkamäki feeding recipe includes wilted silage fed ad libitum together with 10 to 11 kilograms of a mix containing barley, oats, turnip rape, energy feed and minerals. The wilted silage is stored in a Neuero steel tower, from which it is unloaded with a hopper into a 1.6 cubic metre DeLaval feed wagon FS1600. The feed wagon distributes six times a day. Jussi Vakkamäki thinks that it's one of the best purchases ever made for the farm. “Distributing the silage is hard work, but when it is done with a feed wagon moving on rails, the work is made so much easier,” he says.
The concentrated feed is distributed with a weighing DeLaval feed wagon FM460 which always gives the right amount, irrespective of the changes in grain quality. The feeding plan is made together with a ProAgria dairy farm advisor. A DeLaval calf feeder CF500 and the calves’ group box are built on a long but narrow area with the calf resting area (including DeLaval cow mats) at one end and the feeding area at the other
30 of the farm’s 70 hectares are sown with grass, 34 hectares with grain and sex hectares are left fallow. Plentiful harvests are reached with proven methods such as sprinkling the grass on dry summers and sufficient fertilization performed at the right time. The grass mix is timothy-meadow fescue-tall which is fescue-based. Silage is harvested two to three times during the summer..
Vakkamäki’s cow breeding plan has been made by the FABA advisor for many years now. A suitable bull is chosen for each cow according to its production characteristics. Good body conformation and milkability of the animals are key breeding issues.
An important part of the farm’s production control is monitoring and controlling feeding. This is done with the ALPRO® herd management system from DeLaval. ALPRO® is specifically used to control the feed changes in the concentrated feed wagon, set the pre-lactation feed for calving cows and bring them to full feeding capacity for increased production. ALPRO® also controls the volume of feed in the silage feed wagon and the calf feeder. The owners say this makes production control easy and simple.
A dairy farm ISO quality manual was made for the farm in 2001. Each working method has been clearly described there. The quality manual is audited every three years by an advisor from the Rural Advisory Centre. As recognition for making the quality manual, the farm has received a Valio Quality Farm plaque inscribed with its name.
Vakkamäki also cooperates with ProAgria to plan milk production and related milk quality. The farm has conducted regular milk recording for over 60 years..
The Vakkamäki barn is a good example of how it is possible to create a functional, cow comfortable and automated unit by extending old structures. The original 1928 barn has been extended several times. “With enough automation, a stanchion barn is an easy place to work in,” say the owners.
New solutions are tested at Vakkamaki to improve the animals’ living conditions. In the group boxes for the young stock, the resting and feeding sections are separate. There are rubber mattresses in the young stock’s sleeping section, which increases the animals’ rest time and minimise hoof wear. A hoof trimmer visits the dairy two to three times a year. Vakkamäki barn has good air conditioning too. Even though the oldest part of the barn is relatively low, the air in the barn is good quality. This has a positive influence on cow comfort. The oldest tied up stalls will be replaced when the new DeLaval short stands are installed
Another important cow comfort factor on Vakkamäki farm is pasture feeding through the summer. The cows graze from May until September with rotational feeding.
One reason why Vakkamäki has kept the same brand of milking machine for over 50 years is DeLaval Service. Mirja and Jussi Vakkamäki think service is one of the most important considerations when buying a new milking machine. Vakkamäki’s DeLaval milking system is serviced twice a year. During extensive yearly service, all equipment is carefully examined and worn parts are replaced. In addition, the negative pressure values are checked and the liners are changed during a bi-annual inspection. Mirja Vakkamäki thinks the regular DeLaval service has lowered the number of separate repair calls. “The machine works better and lasts longer when it’s serviced regularly,” states Mirja.
Vakkamäki’s owners believe their current stanchion barn is the most suitable option for now. Jussi says the DeLaval feed wagon FS1600 is one of the biggest positive influences on daily work in their stanchion barn. “It’s easier to observe animal health in a stanchion barn. Of course the animals are more free in a loose housing barn, but in a stanchion barn the ‘check-up round' is done during milking and that makes the work very individual.”
81 year-old Paavo Vakkamäki says that if it were up to him, the farm would increase the number of animals and move on to robotic milking. Jussi Vakkamäki concludes that “everything will be done when the time comes and we have plenty of faith in dairy farming”.
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