Vorarlberg farming families = agro-industrialists and mass animal owners?

Source: Article from Luag Magazine, Lanswirtschaftskammer Vorarlberg – 5/2015 – » Report for download

Anyone who calls the Vorarlberg farming families agro-industrialists and mass livestock farmers is wrong. Let us take a closer look.

Again and again the so-called turbo cow spirits through discussion forums, events and the media landscape. If you then ask for the time and place of the inspection, you will not get any information.

If you ask what a turbo cow actually is, the scientifically based answer is usually: “It just gives too much milkCheese milk is the milk intended for the production of cheese, also with the concomitant use of buttermilk products, cream products, sweet whey, sour whey and whey cream (whey cream) » More info from the udder that is too big”. Reason enough to look for this fabulous animal. Research in the turbo cow expert scene showed that turbo cows prefer to stay in industrial mass animal husbandry. “Insiders” are talking about cows that produce 20,000 and more kilograms of milk per year.

Such farms may exist somewhere, but in spite of intensive searches such a described milk factory could not be found in Vorarlberg so far. Much more the small Vorarlberger milk enterprises are internationally ridiculed as “Heidi enterprises”, but straight therefore by many humans and vacation guests as nature near family enterprises estimated.

Turbo cow – facts instead of fictions

So let’s do the fact check. There are 1,220 dairy farms in Vorarlberg with a total of 24,500 dairy cows, which together produce around 165 million kilograms of milk a year.

According to Adam Riese, this is 20 cows per farm with an average milk quantity of 6,734 kilograms per cow and year.

Now, of course, depending on the breed, predisposition and feeding in each barn, there are cows with more and less milk yield and farms with more or less cows. If you talk to veterinarians, you will hear that only a cow that is absolutely healthy and in top condition gives off high quantities of milk.

If a cow feels unwell or is ill, the first thing a cow does is to reduce her milk yield. A cow also eats only as much feed as she wants. Maybe that’s where the old proverb comes from: “A cow knows when she’s had enough.

Dairy cows – Only content animals give much milk

Othmar Bereuter, milk expert at LK-Vorarlberg, says: “The energetically balanced nutrition of the cow, first-class husbandry and care and thus healthy animals are the key to milk qualityDetecting cheese defects and quality - on the cheese dough. Recognizing cheese defects requires some practice. » More info and milk quantity. It is therefore in the animal keeper’s own interest that a cow feels well and is also healthy and fi. Of course, the hereditary predisposition of the animals also plays a role”.

This animal-friendly approach is part of the Vorarlberg practice on dairy farms. “Cow comfort” and balanced feeding are the basics of animal husbandry. This is one of the reasons why so much money has been invested in new, user-friendly stables in recent years. In Vorarlberg there are few cows that produce more than 10,000 kilograms of milk per year. This number of animals is in the single-digit percentage range.

Conclusion on the turbo cow in Vorarlberg:
What a so-called turbo cow is and where it hides in the country is still unknown. But maybe it’s like “Nessie” in Scotland. Sometimes sightings are reported, but there is still no evidence.