Holger Schwichtenberg’s Dairy Farm in Agassiz
August 22 2009
Holger’s dad Gunther Schwichtenberg, a German immigrant, bought this beautiful farm of 112 acres in 1960 from a farmer who married into the original Agassiz family. With the help of the German Mennonite community and the Dukabors, the bare land soon housed a dairy barn, house and outbuildings, and Gunther started milking 19 cows. Holger started farming with his dad in the 1980’s, and built up the farm to 137 acres, with some additional rented land, and now milks 130 cows. Holger’s farm is right next to the urban edge of Agassiz, and he is a District Councillor, so his farm management is of the highest order to ensure that his urban neighbors are not unduly disturbed by noise and odour.
Holger built a new barn two years ago and put in several cow comfort features housed in a large, airy barn with lots of natural light. The cows are free to roam around and the barn has four rows of stalls, one stall for each cow so each cow can have access to feed at all times. Cows like everything the same all the time. They want the same temperature, the same feed, the same routine and Holger works hard to ensure that each cow gets what she needs and lives a stress free life.
Dairy farmers in the Fraser Valley get some of the highest productivity per cow of anywhere in the world. This is because they are outstanding dairy farmers, and also because the feed they produce for their cows is of great quality. Each cow eats 100 pounds of feed per day and also consumes 100 pounds of water a day. By weight, the cows get about 25% concentrate, 25% corn silage, less than 5% hay and the rest is grass silage. This is a highly palatable sweet smelling feed that they just love.
Holger will be able to show several features of the intricate feed production that dairy farmers do here. Holger grows silage corn and grass for his cows, and cuts the grass four to five times per year. He will be able to show you how the farmers put up the silage and the bunker silos that are used to store the corn and grass silage year round.
Come and meet this outstanding Agassiz farm family, Holger Schwichenberg and his wife and three young children and their contented, well-fed cows.
