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Near the small village of Murdoch, approximately 175 km west of Minneapolis, lies the largest dairy farm in Minnesota, which houses one of the largest herds in the USA, with 9,500 cows. Its name is Louriston Dairy, and it is part of a rapidly growing network of giant farms built and operated by Riverview LLP. But how does such a huge business operation unfold? Here's what DairyGlobal mentions about it. Some aspects of the American farmers' experience may be useful to farmers in Romania.

Continual Optimism

Riverview owns 92,000 dairy cows distributed across 10 herds in Minnesota, 2 in South Dakota, 1 in Mexico, and 1 in Arizona. "We are truly optimistic about the future prospects for the dairy industry, especially in the northern part of the Corn Belt.

When we founded the company Riverview in 1995, it was because we could see that in order for the whole family - father and 2 sons - to survive as farmers in the future, it was necessary to expand and invest. And one of the reasons we chose the dairy sector was that it was an industry that had not yet consolidated," says Brad Fehr, one of the company's founders.

Since Riverview started in 1995, by the brothers Gary and Brad Fehr and their father, Lloyd, the company has expanded tremendously. Here is the profile of the farm:

Louriston Dairy Farm is part of a rapidly growing network of giant farms built and operated by Riverview LLP, a company from Minnesota.

Location: Murdoch, approximately 175 km west of Minneapolis in the USA.

Managed by: Riverview was started in 1995 by the brothers Gary and Brad Fehr and their father, Lloyd.

Herd: 9,500 cows, crossbreeds between Jersey and Holstein cows.

Feed: The cows are fed with corn silage, soy, alfalfa/hay, as well as concentrate with minerals and vitamins.

The farm does not receive any subsidies but benefits from investments made by a number of 200 shareholders.

Immense Dairy Farms in 5 States

Today, the company owns farms in the states of New Mexico, Nebraska, Arizona, South Dakota, and Minnesota. At Louriston Farm, an average of 25 new calves are born in the herd every day. After birth, they are weighed and given an identification tag. In the first few days, they are fed with colostrum from cows three times a day with a bottle, and then they are given cow milk replacer.

After about a month, the calves are transported to heifer farms in New Mexico and Arizona, where they grow in the warm climate for approximately 18 months. Here, insemination takes place using semen from the best bulls in the USA. Just before calving, they are sent back to the dairy herds in Minnesota, where they have an average of 6-7 calvings before being released. Bull calves are raised in other farms for slaughter.

The company's expansion with the establishment of these huge dairy herds in recent years is not well-received by smaller dairy producers in Minnesota.

They believe it is very selfish for a company to build such massive operations when milk prices are declining and many of their neighbors are going bankrupt. And according to statistics, Minnesota has lost about half of its dairy producers in the last 10 years.

Riverview invested around $45 million in the large herd of 9,500 cows in Murdock, which started milk production 10 years ago. The entire complex, including a DeLaval milking carousel, a separate barn, a feed storage barn, etc., covers an area of approximately 9 hectares, while there is adjacent land to the farm of 64 hectares.

Knowledge of agriculture

Today, Riverview employs 1,200 people across its farms. The company gives employees ownership and they own the majority of shares in the large herd of dairy cows. In total, the company has more than 200 foreign investors in its many operations in the 5 states. All milk shipped from Riverview's 9 herds in Minnesota is made into cheese at 5 cheese plants in western Minnesota and South Dakota.

Reno Williams, who is one of the farm's 42 employees, said he works with schools, associations, kindergartens and rural associations on tours of the large farm. It is part of imparting knowledge about agriculture. "It's important for people to know where their food comes from and what it takes to produce it," says Williams.

The tour of a visit starts at the large milking carousel with room for 106 cows. These are crosses between Jersey and Holstein cows. The milking carousel operates 22 hours a day. All cows are milked twice a day, each taking 7 minutes.

The cows are led from the free shelter through a long sluice to the milking carousel. Here I step into it as it moves slowly. A worker sprays disinfectant on each cow's udder, another wipes the teats with a paper towel, and a third attaches suction cups to the teats for milking.

While the cows are in the waiting position and in the lock, the floor is continuously rinsed, and so is the carousel floor. Cleanliness is a priority to avoid the spread of disease. Almost no antibiotics are used in the herd, although mastitis can occur in some cows.

The feed consists of corn silage, soybeans and alfalfa silage/hay, as well as mineral and vitamin concentrate. "It is very important for cows that they benefit from proper nutrition and animal care.

In order to make the farm more sustainable, several initiatives have been implemented. There is ventilation in the open air barn, which ensures a comfortable temperature for the cows and helps reduce the number of flies.

Finally, litter chutes in the barn are cleaned daily and litter is added to keep the cows clean and dry. A large sludge separation system has been installed so that the sludge is almost just water when pumped into the sludge lagoons, which are close to the farm. The manure is stored here until the harvest is over, after which it is spread over the field.

Dry matter, manure use

The dry matter from the sludge separation plant is odorless and is used as bedding for all farm animals. Rainwater and snowmelt water is collected in separate basins, from where it can be reused for irrigation.

Using this water reduces the farm's use of groundwater. From here, the manure lagoons, which are covered, spread the manure over the farm's fields, but the 64 hectares are far from enough to get rid of the manure.

Only about 20% can be spread here. Agreements have therefore been concluded with 15 plant producers in the area where they purchase manure.

Meanwhile, these crop producers sell corn and soybeans corresponding to 80% of the total feed consumption of the farm on an area of about 1,800 hectares, and alfalfa hay on 600 hectares. So are the other dairy herds in Minnesota and South Dakota.

Fed according to appetite

The feed consists of corn silage, soybeans, alfalfa silage/hay, as well as concentrate with minerals and vitamins. "It is very important for cows to receive proper nutrition and animal care.

This is achieved through the use of a nutritionist and sophisticated feeding technology. All our cows have electronic identification tags in their ears, which transmit health data to the milk plant.

Each cow produces just under 30 liters of milk daily, which corresponds to approximately 9,000 kg of milk per cow annually, or about 85,500 tons of milk annually from the entire herd. All the milk is sent to a cheese-only milk plant," says Williams, adding, "To ensure that the animals receive the best care in all aspects, we organize regular training courses for employees."

Agriculture in Minnesota