Nuffield #15 Building for Cow Calf Contact

I’m writing this from a train whizzing through the beautiful Norwegian countryside. This is my last day in Norway, as I fly to Stockholm tomorrow morning. An exciting evening in the airport Radisson Red hotel awaits me..

This morning I went to my last commercial farm visit of the trip, seeing Line, a dairy farmer who kindly offered to show me her farm after I posted in a Norwegian CCC Facebook group that was recommended to me by Hanne- one of my hosts from yesterday. Line felt comfortable to message me because we had a mutual friend, a vet she had met while working as an au pair in the UK in her early twenties. For all I loathe social media it really has been a gem for my Nuffield (and crucial for my writing career, so lets not hate on it too much).

This farm was particularly interesting to visit, because unbeknown to me they have tie stalls. A new barn was constructed and waiting for a robot (while I was there DeLaval phoned to say it would arrive on Monday!) which will see the end of tie stalls.

Cows in tie stalls

Crucially, the new shed has been designed to accommodate their cow calf contact system, with a special area set up for cows and calves together, albeit they will be walked to the robot as they won’t have access to it. Like my visit yesterday, they have concerns about calves on the slats and will set up to make sure the calves can’t get out and that dry cows are taken away from the slatted area with ample time before calving.

Another view of the tie stalls

Cow calf contact started here several years ago, when they decided to stop rearing their bull calves and had extra pen space. At the time a Norwegian supermarket was selling added value chicken marketed for its welfare, and the family felt that there was a growing movement towards ethical production which they felt would lead to cow calf contact becoming compulsory. They still sell all of their milk to Tine, and don’t have any added value production.

Cow and calf; the calf is resting on the mat area

The herd of Norwegian Red cows consists of 35 animals, which will be expanded to 45 once they are in the new shed; they have purchased additional quota to allow for this to happen. All semen is NR and the family actually sold a bull to Geno- the Norwegian, farmer-owned bull stud- and he is one of their highest ranked animals. They have returned to keeping their bull calves to finish at 16 months, and feel that the bull calves grow better on the system than the heifers (although both were huge).

Another pen- in this one you can see the kindergarten pen

The calves are weaned at between six and eight weeks, and some then move to a milkbar if any waste milk is available. Weaning is done through the use of a nose flap for a couple of days, although they don’t use for too long as they find that it restricts the calf from eating.

The contact pens were slatted with a rubber mat area and a straw bedded kindergarten for the calves. These were well used and the calves I saw were mostly inside them rather than out with their mothers. The cows fed from the same feed passageway as the cows in the tie stalls.

And inside the kindergarten!

Line said that her average SCC had improved since starting the system but they did have some reduction in butterfat and they have seen research that the cows “hold” the higher fat milk back at the end of milking and this is drank by the calf. They also said that some heifers had problems with let down and were giving 4 litres of milk a day to the parlour. Since suckling cows that do get mastitic quarters never need to have that quarter dried off, and antibiotic use is very low. In addition they have found that it cuts labour and the calves grow better.

The new shed is an exciting opportunity for the farm, and mirrors what Julie told me on Tuesday about DeLaval reporting that farmers are setting up for CCC. I sat with Line and her husband at breakfast and we had a great discussion about farming in Norway.

Inside the new shed!

The feed barrier in the cow calf area has been designed to stop calves escaping with specially designed rails

This far south their grazing requirement is extended to 16 weeks, and on the robot system they will have constant access to pasture. Their farm safety requirements here seem more strict too; all tractors are fitted with seat belts and it is compulsory to wear them. Tine are keen for more summer milk; the emphasis on time off means that many Norwegian farmers time their calving pattern to have the cows dry over the summer, and those with access to mountain pasture will ship their cows off while they take a holiday. I think this also drives the prevalence of robots, as does the small herd size and farmers having off-farm work.

I was struck again by how well the calves look. The Norwegian Red is touted here as a dual purpose breed and the bull proofs list the carcase quality of the calves as well as their milk production, temperament, and the usual fertility and stature values.

The Norwegian dairy industry, capped by quotas and with milk bought by one buyer, is very different to the UK. However, I can’t help but be very taken by their approach to dairy farming. I’m not a fan of robots, but the ability here to farm with welfare first and foremost and to be able to make a good living from a small herd is very enticing. The opportunity for cow calf contact here is huge, and with so many farmers doing it well in a replicable way, I think we will continue to see our Nordic neighbours grow and grow this system.

I’m definitely keen to visit again and see how it advances!

But for now on to Sweden. The Norwegians pit the Swedes as their stupid and boring neighbours, who may have ruled them for centuries but are now left with Volvos while the Norwegians seem to have all spent their oil money on Maseratis and (ironically) Teslas. There’s only one way to find out if their take is true…

Now I need to keep an eye out of the window in the hope of spotting some moose!