Dairy farm faces market challenge

MALILIPOT, Albay, Philippines—The sight of black-and-white cows eating luscious green grasses may somehow make you feel you are in New Zealand or Australia, but this is actually a local scene, at the first concentrated cow farm in Bicol.

Located at the upland village of Canaway in Albay’s Malilipot town, Canaway Dairy Farm started operations almost two years ago, in August 2009.

The National Dairy Authority (NDA), in its aim to regulate the selling of foreign-branded fresh milk in the Philippines and to mainstream the importance of drinking fresh milk, has given a businessman in Albay the opportunity to own imported cows and produce fresh milk for the community.

Twenty cows from New Zealand were brought to Bicol to jump-start the milk farm. All of the animals are crossbreeds of The Netherlands breed Holstein and the Pakistani breed Sahiwal.

According to farm owner Anton Burce, crossbreeding is done to ensure that the cows will thrive in the Philippines’ tropical weather.

“The milking breed Holstein can only survive in cold climates, but when you mix it with the Sahiwal breed, it can survive in our Philippine weather,” Burce explains.

All of the cows were brought to Batangas by sea and brought to San Simon town in Pampanga for quarantine before they were transported to Albay.

Preparations

It took almost a year and a half to prepare the facilities of the 32-hectare dairy farm before it was declared ready for operation. A small portion of the property was used to grow grasses for the cows, while most of the ground is used as sanctuary for the cows to just walk all day and eat grass.

All the machineries were bought over a year-long period before operations went full-blast.

“We have milking machines, pressure washers, quality containers and bulky refrigerators so that we can make sure that we will be able to produce good milk quality from our cows,” Burce says.

Moreover, he says, the farm invested on food for the cows. It buys lactating pellets from Naga City and grows quality grasses to make the cows healthier.

“Our cows eat a mixture of forage grasses, feeds, molasses and mineral mixes. When all these are combined, higher milk production is attained,” Burce says.

Class A

Based on tests conducted by the NDA, the farm produces Class A milk, which means that it maintains high-quality standards in milk production.

When the demand for fresh milk increases, the farm is forced to “challenge feed” the cows and give them more food.

Canaway was the chosen site because it is cold even during hot days and the soil is perfect for planting grasses and trees.

Cows are milked twice a day and an estimated 160 liters is produced. They are first fed and cleaned before they are milked so they can produce more liters and ensure good milk quality.

“We already use a milking machine to do away with the crude method of hand-milking. It is faster and it can get more milk from the cows,” says Ariel Ala, who is in-charge of the dairy farm.

Ala says that the highest milk producer gives them 27 liters in two milking sessions. After going through the machine, the milk is transferred to metal containers and placed inside a freezer.

“Fresh milk usually expires after five days unlike commercial milk products which can last until a month. Freezing the milk is really important to keep it from spoiling,” Burce says.

According to him, this is the first dairy farm in Bicol where 20 cows are concentrated in one place. Most of the dairy farms in the region are run by cooperatives and the cows are distributed to members who take them home and take care of them.

“They hand-milk their own cows and bring the milk to their cooperatives,” Burce says.

He claims Canaway Dairy Farm has facilities compared with other dairy farms because they use new machines and equipment.

Cow names

In their study, scientists from Australia found that giving names to cows increases milk production. The same strategy is adopted at Canaway.

“We gave them names so that we can have a personal interaction with them and they will feel that they are living in a peaceful environment,” Burce says.

Some of the cows are named Ara, Bechay, Pokwang, Demi, Eva and Rizza. They are named alphabetically based on when they gave birth to the calves.

Farm hands call out the cows’ names when it is time for milking and the cows easily respond.

The farm management also makes sure that the environment is clean and stress-free so that the animals are raised healthier and can give more milk.

Marketing problem

Burce says the farm’s biggest problem is marketing their milk. Many people in the locality are not used to drinking fresh cow’s milk so they do not usually patronize the products, he rues.

“We have an outlet at Tabaco City where we offer milk at P10 per glass. At first, many people wanted to try it, but after a few many months, we had fewer customers. Perhaps their stomachs are not just used to fresh milk,” he says.

The main market is the feeding program of the Tabaco city government, which provides pasteurized milk to malnourished students in elementary schools. The target children are not yet used to commercial milk products.

Canaway Dairy Farm currently sells fresh milk at P35 per liter, but customers may buy pasteurized and chocolate milk in packs, which are cheaper. Indirect pasteurization is done to avoid killing the nutrients in the milk.

“We try information dissemination campaigns to spread the importance of drinking fresh milk, especially for children. We also have radio advertisements to promote our products,” Burce says.

Dr. Jaime Lopez, NDA area manager for Southern Luzon, says the farm was primarily established for stock production. Later, he says, the cows will be dispersed to farm cooperatives.

“We are doing this nationwide as long as there are interested individuals who are ready to support dairy development,” Lopez adds.

Bicolano consumers are just not used to drinking fresh cow’s milk, laments the Canaway Dairy Farm owner.