…to complete new Arla dairy farm with 400 milking cows in Kaduna

… says 1,000 pastoralist farmers’ll be settled

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – A dairy producing giant, Arla Global Dairy Products Ltd, Monday, disclosed plans to place Nigeria’s dairy industry on global map.

This was made known by Senior Project Manager, Raw Milk Supply and Production, Snorri Sigurdsson, Arla Global Dairy Products Ltd, while speaking about the huge potential of the Nigerian dairy industry with potential of becoming a global player in the international market.

Sigurdsson also made it known that the Arla dairy farm with 400 milking cows, which is now under construction in Kaduna State will soon be completed that would open a new vista in Nigeria’s dairy industry.

According to him, the farm will be state of the art, with special focus on exceptional animal welfare and productivity. 

However, he said the 400 cows will be imported from Denmark and will arrive Nigeria soon.

He said: “Our ambition is to redefine dairy farming in Africa, promote excellence in dairy farming and redesign the dairy map of the world, putting Nigeria boldly on it.

“Arla, the producer of Dano, is now building a dairy farm for 400 milking cows in Kaduna State, Nigeria. 

“The farm will be state of the art, with special focus on exceptional animal welfare and productivity. This is aimed at promoting backward integration in the dairy sub-sector. 

“The concept and design of the farm was done by a team of Danish experts with years of experience in farm design, and with special focus on animal welfare and productivity.

“The farm is to be located in the Damau area, which is being developed in partnership with the Kaduna State government to settle 1,000 pastoralist farmers.” 

He also explained that, “Arla will offtake the milk from these farmers and as such will invest in a state-of-the art milk collection centre.

“When the Damau area is fully developed, the farms will have increased milk production per animal, by at least 10-fold, when compared to farms with local cows. 

“Furthermore, these farms will have more turnover on average than most farms in Nigeria.

“This will be done with better breed, reproduction, training of farmers (improvement of skills) and proper management of the cows/animals.”

He (Sigurdsson) explained why more needs to be done in Nigeria’s dairy subsector.

“The Danish dairy sector, which is renowned as one of the most advanced in the world, is boasting of extremely high yielding cows, with many dairy farms in Denmark averaging over 40kg of milk per cow per day. 

“This is about 25 times higher daily production than most local cows in Nigeria produce! To reach this high average yield, farmers need not only good dairy breeds but also a good environment for the cows so they can realize their full potential at any given time. 

“For this reason, the new Arla dairy farm, which is now under construction in Kaduna State, the dairy capital of Nigeria, is designed for optimized comfort for the animals. 

“The first step to reach this target that Arla has set was to hire Dr. Jimmy Johnmark, Nigerian expert in veterinary medicine, to make sure all animals will receive exceptional care. 

“Dr. Johnmark has already started working at the farm and is currently building up a team of good employees that will be specially trained in good animal welfare and good dairy practices.”

Meanwhile, Johnmark said, “All animals will have access to a spacious area, where each animal will have access to much bigger space inside the animal buildings than is most common in barns today.

 “This leads to high animal welfare and comfort for each animal.”

Sigurdsson also added that, “After the calves stop drinking milk they will be kept in groups in boxes with dry and soft sand to sleep on and rest on and there they will also have access to brushes so they can clean their fur whenever they feel like doing that. 

“To make the animals even more comfortable the animal buildings will be equipped with special cooling system consisting of 150 fans that will keep the animal barn environment comfortable at any given time. 

“All buildings will also be equipped with special LED lights that have a special wavelength of the light that research have shown to have positive influence on the animals”.

“As previously stated, Arla is now building this farm and it will be fully ready within a few months. 

“Some buildings are already ready to receive the animals, that will be imported from Denmark.”

He also made it known that, “Arla conducts regular trainings with the farmers from which we offtake milk on key topics that impact on animal health and milk production.”