Herd of the Year 2023 Finland - Ahlvik Gård

Bror’s parents started the family farm in 1960 with a single cow. In its over 60 years of history, the Ahlvik family has paid much attention to the cows’ breeding and genetics and focused on high solids production. Zackarias and Jeremias inherited Bror’s and his wife Sonja’s passion for dairy farming.

“Since elementary school, the barn has always been a fascinating place to me. I enjoyed regularly working in the barn already in the seventh grade,” says Jeremias.

This passion soon grew beyond the boundaries of their home farm as both sons started getting work experience in other large herds. “I trained in Sweden in a few herds of more than 1,000 cows, and I learned a lot about managing a large farm,” says Jeremias.

Their experiences and curiosity to learn more led Zackarias and Jeremias to return to Ahlvik Gård to help with a planned expansion. As part of this, they went on a farm tour across the Netherlands to explore different barn solutions and consider their options. Construction of the new barn, with capacity for 190 cows, started in February 2020, and the rest followed soon after – including four milking robots.

Good animal welfare is central to everything the Ahlviks do, including the new and old barns.
A clean, soft, and large enough cubicle at all times and sufficient room on the feeding table are a significant part of this.

“A consistently high output, healthy and sustainable practices, and good longevity give us a resilient bottom line. However, we still have to calculate our techniques' price carefully,” says Jeremias.

Deep, sand-bedded freestalls are one of the best solutions to improving the cows’ well-being, as they help reduce udder and hoof diseases. The cows enjoy lying down longer on a clean, cool, soft bed, therefore standing less and reducing unnecessary tension.

“The new barn has lots of light and sand bedding. Good conditions and management will get the most out of the cows’ top genetics,” says Zackarias.

“We aim to provide our cows with first-class care every day. They should have the best feeding, optimal health, comfort, and welfare. They should feel like they live in a luxury barn where they are well taken care of,” he adds.

By providing the cows with excellent conditions, the Ahlviks ensure they remain stress-free and are better adjusted to production and robot milking. To achieve this, the farm follows five maxims:

1. Maximal comfort = Cows’ wellbeing
2. Provide calves with an excellent start to life
3. Health above all
4. Quality feed from silage
5. Focus on profitability and comfort before yield

Everyone has a responsibility at Ahlvik Gård, and routine is essential to their success. The barn work is mainly done by three people, split across eight to ten hours, and divided into rotating morning, day, and evening shifts and weekends.

This helps the Ahlviks deal with the challenges in a proactive way. By focusing on improving the aspects of the farm that can be controlled, they have excellent sustainable production and a more resilient bottom line.

"As a dairy producer, it's difficult to influence the milk or meat prices. We must focus on what we can control to have the most profitable operation possible,” explains Jeremias. “Considering the higher costs, rising interest rates, and an uncertain global situation, it's vital that production is at its best and that the business is profitable," he adds.

Learning from their peers is essential to this routine, and the Ahlviks are always looking for new tools to improve results and the herd’s genetic progress. For this purpose, they often travel to Europe and the USA, which allows them to hear from other farmers and get global insights into their problems and solutions.

"If anything will be needed in the future, it's milk. The global population is increasing, leading to higher demand for food. We must invest in the future and always remember that while we produce food, we also bind carbon dioxide in the soil through all the plants on the farm. It's an important functioning cycle no other industry can replicate, especially considering the climate discussion. Farmers are climate heroes," ends Jeremias.

The fruits of their hard work and optimism for the future were more than evident during a VikingGenetics visit to Ahlvik Gård in January 2024. Hanna Driscoll, Product Manager for VikingHolstein, said: “The cows are beautiful and have an amazingly high production, and the facilities are impressive. Bror, Zacharias, and Jeremias do an excellent job at the farm.”