Vinamilk to import 1,550 dairy cows from the US to Green Farm

This herd of dairy cows is part of Vinamilk's import of over 2,500 cows to strengthen the herd for the Green Farm eco-farm system and Vinamilk's Lao-Jagro farm complex in Laos.

Carefully selected cow imports to increase the herd for the Green Farm system

Vinamilk Green Farm is an ecological farm system launched by Vinamilk in 2021, including 3 farms in Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngai and Tay Ninh. The designs for these farms were developed based on GlobalGAP standards certified farms; with a total area of ​​up to thousands of hectares.

The "Green Farm" model was built by Vinamilk based on three pillars: careful input selection; practice regenerative agriculture; apply advanced technology to sustainable agriculture, with imported purebred dairy cows as one of the important invested aspects in these farms.

It is reported that with the 1,550 dairy cows recently imported, Vinamilk Green Farm will reach the total herd size of 20,000 cows.

This is also Vinamilk's first batch of cows in 2022 with 100% purebred HF individuals, carefully selected by genetic experts through 3-generation pedigree records. Namely, each individual cow in the imported cow herd was tested, evaluated and achieved a high level of Total Genetic Performance Index.

Vinamilk's experts personally visited the US with partners to select healthy dairy cows from the herd with an average yield of over 10,000 liters/cow/305-day cycle, which is equivalent to 38-40 liters of fresh milk ingredients per day.

The herd of cows imported to Green Farm includes heifers of diverse ages, in addition to pregnant cows directly selected in the US to contribute to the rapid increase in the number of cows on the farms in the near future.

During the long travel by sea from the US to Vietnam, dairy cows are monitored by American experts for their health and psychology with specifically designed care.

Vinamilk's experts in Vietnam are constantly updated on the entire journey so that the receiving and handling of cows when they return to the farm is carried out smoothly and effectively.

Professional and elaborate reception process

Specialized vessels carrying dairy cows docked at Nghi Son port in Thanh Hoa and Dung Quat port in Quang Ngai. All the weather and temperature conditions for when the dairy cows set foot at the port are included in the calculations. In a single morning, 1,550 cows were successfully received, and started on a journey to Vinamilk Green farm in Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai.

To prepare for the arrival of dairy cows on the farm, a series of measures to ensure the requirements of disease prevention and herd health were implemented by Vinamilk such as: the farm must comply with the national technical regulations on veterinary hygiene and quarantine facilities; all means of transportation must be assembled separately and sprayed with disinfectant both before and after the cows are loaded onto the vehicle to be transported to the farm.

Upon arrival at the farm, the cows will be inspected again before entering a separate isolation barn. Each cow will be sampled for testing and vaccinated against diseases according to regulations of specialized veterinary agencies.

At the farm, Before joining the existing herd, the newly imported cows will be placed in a separate barn for 30 to 45 days and handled by a team of experts and staff. The farm has its own care regime so that cows can promptly integrate and familiarize with the new environment.

As a direct participant in each stage of dairy cows handling, Mr. Vu Duc Huy, Director of Green Farm in Thong Nhat, Thanh Hoa said: “This import of cows moved along quite smoothly because the travel time only took 20 days.

Dairy cows are carefully monitored on board, so they maintain stable health when entering a new farm. With the appropriate nutrition, living conditions, and advanced breeding techniques, the cows can promptly join the herd and give milk to produce quality Green Farm fresh milk products.

The Vinamilk Green Farm eco-farm model and Vinamilk's story on sustainable development in dairy farming have recently made a strong impression at the 2022 Global Dairy Conference held in France.

Determined to set this as the general trend for the region and the world, Vinamilk has invested heavily to develop this system in terms of both herd size and milk output, especially when the demand for milk in Vietnam is increasing strongly by the day.

With sustainable development included as one of four development strategies for the period of 2022-2026, Vinamilk is focusing on investing and developing the Green Farm eco-farm system as a model of dairy cow farming towards sustainable development, bringing benefits to the environment and the community.