What farmers learned from Dutch dairy revolution

________________

Thirteen winners of the Best Farmers Competition travelled to the Netherlands on October 4-11. They were grouped into five clusters — dairy, coffee, poultry, beekeeping and entrepreneurship — for each to explore innovations in their respective fields.

In the first of a five-part series, Joshua Kato focuses on the dairy team, which discovered how Dutch precision, automation and animal welfare practices are reshaping global dairy farming.

Of the 13 best farmers that travelled to the Netherlands, five are engaged in dairy farming. These are Apollo Gabazira (Iganga district), Allen Atuhaire (Sheema), Martha Namabiro Matovu (Dairy Farmers’ Network), and Joyce Omiat (Jaira Farm, Bukedea).

The farmers expected to see cows and machines. What they did not expect was a glimpse into the future of dairy farming, where cows wear smart chips, robots milk with precision, and music soothes the herd.

The Dutch dairy sector, deeply rooted in culture and innovation, offered lessons that could transform Uganda’s landscape. Before the 2024 Best Farmers physically visited any dairy farm in the Netherlands, they had already seen cows lounging on lush pastures.

But once on the farms, the truth hit them: Dutch dairy farming is advanced.

Michel Hillen, the director of Emerging Markets Africa, who hosted the farmers on behalf of the government of the Netherlands, said the country is a proud dairy nation and among the top four milk-producing countries in the EU.

To appreciate how the Dutch run their dairy sector, the farmers toured several facilities, including:

• Regek den Hastag, with over 500 cattle.
• Melhueebedrf Ezon, owned by Menno Jensma. It houses 200 cattle and is equipped with automated feeding and milking robots. nAnte BV, a dairy equipment fabricator and distributor to Ugandan farmers.
  
  Innovations that impressed

“Dutch dairy farming has evolved through years of innovation,” Hillen said.

One standout feature was the advanced monitoring chips. Unlike Uganda’s basic ID tags that only show the number of the cow, Dutch farmers use intelligent chips to track cow behaviour in real-time.

Martha Namabiro Matovu (foreground, left) and Joyce Omiat (right) visiting a dairy farm in Friesland.

“The farm manager can see everything, that is, when a cow feeds, rests or goes to the milking parlour,” Namabiro said.

Jensma said: “Cows even have friends. These chips help us understand social bonds within the herd. This helps in judging behaviour change or lack of it within the herd,” he says.

Another surprise? Music therapy. Dutch farms play music during milking and rest periods to reduce stress and boost milk production.

Dutch farms use mechanised systems that lift the cow’s leg for easy trimming, improving comfort and hygiene. In Uganda, dehooving is rare due to a lack of equipment, Gabazira said.

The Netherlands is the birthplace of robotic milking systems, which have led to a 5-12% increase in milk yields and a 15-20% reduction in labour costs. Jensma said the milking and feeding systems cost about $400,000 (sh1.4b). Although this may be prohibitive for Ugandan farmers, the system improves farm efficiency.

“Efficiency is key. Timely insemination, feeding, and milking can significantly boost earnings,” Atuhaire said.

Dutch dairy by the numbers

According to the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, the Dutch dairy industry is characterised by a robust infrastructure as follows:

 

• 57 million dairy cattle produce 14.3 billion litres of milk annually.
• Uganda, with 17 million cattle, produces only 5.2 billion litres.
• Dutch cows produce an average of 35kg of milk per day, 25% above the EU average (Dutch use kilogrammes in reference to litres).
• Feeding is precise: each cow consumes 40kg of feed and 100 litres of water daily, using automated systems, such as levy feeders, to give the cows a combination of hay andsilage mixed with concentrates.

“I’ve been giving mine only 40 litres of water,” Atuhaire admitted, realising the gap.

Producing for export

The EU is the most important sales region for Dutch dairy products. Of the total dairy products, 75% are sold within the EU (of which 30% in the domestic market).

The remaining 25% is exported to countries outside of the EU.

Based on trade value, Dutch export of dairy products (mainly cheese and high-value-added products) amounted to euro 10.3b.

While this represents a 4.1% decline from 2022, this is mainly attributable to price effects after a significant increase in dairy market prices in the previous year, as prices normalise after geopolitical developments.

Export volumes of all product categories, apart from milk powder and whey products, in fact grew in 2023. Compared to 2019, the dairy export grew on average by 7.2% per annum over the last four years.

The EU member states — especially Germany, Belgium and France — are by far the most important markets for Dutch dairy products, accounting for approximately 73% of total export value.

Main export destinations outside of the EU are China, the UK and Korea.

Culture meets technology Dairy is part of the Dutch identity, with its rich history in family-owned farms, co-operatives and private enterprises spread across the country. Processing plants are rural, capital-intensive and environmentally conscious.

Processing power

“I don’t see the milk that comes out of my cows,” Dutch dairy farmer Menno Jensma told the Ugandan farmers.

This is because milk in the Netherlands is either packaged or processed into other products, according to data from Statistics Netherlands and Eurostat. In 2023, 13.9 billion litres were processed across 53 facilities. Noteworthy is that dairy processing plants are situated in the rural areas countrywide.

Over time, processing locations merged, and Dutch dairy processors developed into a capital-intensive industry, subject to global developments and environmental measures.

The milk is processed into:

• Cheese (59% of output)
• Fresh milk products
• Milk powder
• Butter and yoghurt
  
  

Lessons farmers picked

Allen Atuhaire

Replicating the use of machines, including robots, may be a long story for Ugandan farmers. However, there are simple things that we have picked which do not require too much financial input. Things like hygiene on the farm, timely artificial insemination for cows on heat and timely milking.

Apollo Gabazira

I have appreciated the effort that these farmers put into every detail of the herd. Everything is done not only on time but also with purpose, and the level of efficiency cuts across the entire value chain. Even on our moderate technology farms, we can improve the efficiency and timely application of key farm aspects.

Joyce Omiat

These people emphasise value addition to their milk because that is where the money is. Interestingly, a dairy farmer never gets to see the milk from his cows. I do process yoghurt at the farm as a by-the-way, but I think I should start doing it as a big business.

Martha Namabiro Matovu

I have learnt more about the value of proper ratios in feed mixing. The only difference here is that the ratios are made using computers; however, I will engage a nutritionist to draw them using the feeds that we have at home.

Fact file

The Best Farmers Competition is organised by Vision Group in partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands, KLM Airlines, dfcu Bank and Koudijs Nutrition BV.

Each year, the winners share sh150m in prize money and get an all-expenses-paid learning tour to the Netherlands. Since the competition began in 2014, there have been 121 winners, with 111 travelling to the Netherlands.