ON-FARM 1 2 Krone
ON-FARM 1 2 Krone machinery has always been used. Thomas Dehlwes: “We mow with a F320 front mower as well as a rear-mounted butterfly EasyCut 9000. Turning is with the KWT 1300 12-rotor 13 m machine, tedding with a three-rotor Swadro 1010. The machines have a logical construction so that servicing and repairs are easy to carry out. This is very important for us because we nearly always do our own repairs. Our Krone dealership “Newtec” is so situated that spare part supply functions well. With the exception of the turner, that we only bought at beginning of 2018, the machines are now in their 14th season. We are still happy with them, although next year we aim to make new purchases for increasing efficiency. Because of the way it gathers swaths together, we have our eyes on the Krone EasyCut B950 Collect mower combination.” Such a machine offers more forage in one pass for more efficient work by the contractor’s silage harvester. “In that the B950 is comparatively heavy for our moorland soils, it’ll need wider tyres - that should work without any problem”, reckons Thomas Dehlwes. A new tedder should be bought as well: a Krone Swadro 740 TS. “Our contractor has a Swadro 1400 and we could have both working together.” On the farm’s sandy soil, cropping comprises clover/grass leys, forage maize and cereals. “We grow good maize here”, says Thomas Dehlwes proudly. Yields of organically grown maize are not much lower than that of conventionally grown maize in the region. “We harvest around 35 to 45 t fresh crop /ha.” Long-year experience in organic cropping has helped such performance. Weed control is through hoeing or spring harrowing between the rows. “Plant protection was one of our greatest challenges when we started with organic maize”, he explains. “After some experimenting, we can now use the hoe precisely. “Additionally, undersown ryegrass between the row helps smother weeds and retain soil nutrients through avoiding leaching and erosion.” LITTLE AND LARGE Since 2005, the farm shop sells home-produced eggs from 450 layers kept in mobile sheds. “Demand for the eggs from this housing is large”, reports Thomas Dehlwes. “We were attracted to this sort of housing 5 on seeing it at the Tarmstedter Show.” Eggs on the counter have increased the number of customers coming to the shop. One result was another mobile shed being added only 18 months later. The birds come from a Bioland pullet breeder in the region. When they become too old for egg production the hens are slaughtered at a certified organic slaughterhouse and we sell them here as boilers. As well as poultry, we sell beef and pork, all from bio-slaughterhouses. “ 28
3 4 The beef in the farm shop comes from the farm’s own cattle, as a rule from unbred heifers. “Currently, we’re also feeding 15 young Holstein x Belgian Blue crosses. From these, we’re looking for the Blues’ advantage of good weight gain and meat quality. We’re finishing them here and, again, using a certificated organic slaughterhouse.” Customers can now buy Dehlwes products in regional supermarkets. Here, the container size plays a role in marketing. “In the future we aim to supply milk in 0.5 l sachets,” says Thomas Dehlwes. “We see great potential in smaller containers as a marketing feature. The 0.5 l target group comprises single households, pensioners and people that only use milk for their coffee.” A decisive point is the shelf life of the milk because for some time now food retailers order their ware from central depots. Thomas Dehlwes: “This principle may be logistically simpler, but it also increases the transport distance and time from dairy to end-customer by one or two days and therefore shortens the shelf life. Thus, we are steering against this by increasing the attraction of our product to some consumers through the 0.5 l sachet.” But there’s also a role for bulk containers – 5 or 10 kg tubs, e.g. for yoghurt – that the dairy delivers to university canteens, cafes, restaurants and catering companies. “Our large-scale customers represent about a third of our total sales”, explains Thomas Dehlwes. He sees as positive that consumers now give more importance to regionality and animal welfare in production rather than for simply organic output. “The regionality that we’ve always had is now a marketing strong point. Nearly all our milk comes from a radius of 10 km as the crow flies”, he adds with pride. “Only one supplier is further off. This not only protects the environment. The shorter transport means very low collection costs which help our business efficiency. ‘The local village dairy’ remains our strategy.” « 1 Fresh grass is fed daily in the cow barn. 2 On the dairy site, there’s also a cheese making plant under the management of Mareike Dehlwes, a certificated master dairy craftswoman. 3 Available in the Dehlwes’ farm shop is a wide range of dairy articles as well as poultry meat, beef and pork. 4 A special highlight: the cheese section with products from the farm cheese plant. 5 Agricultural master craftsman Thomas Dehlwes is extremely satisfied with the fresh yield of 35–45 t of his organically managed forage maize crops. 29
