Moooove over manual milking — this Manitoba dairy farm is run by robots.
It’s all in the family at Halarda Farms in Elm Creek, which has been operated by the Borst clan for nearly 40 years.
The entrepreneurial enterprise began with Hans and Dini Borst, who moved to Manitoba from Holland in 1984. They bought an existing 80-cow operation and named it Halarda Farms, incorporating the first initials of the names of themselves and their children — Hans, Anton, Lucie, Alex, Ralph, Dini and Adrianne.
The business continued to grow, and by 2008 they had acquired more than 600 milking cows.
Ten years ago, Anton Borst and his wife Cheryl officially took over the operation from his parents. The couple has nine children and nine grandchildren — with more on the way.
“When our kids are 12 years old, that’s when they’re officially on the chore list and on the payroll,” Anton said.
“All our kids have to go off the farm for at least a year and do something else. Then they can decide if they want to come back to the farm. And if they want to have a job on the farm, that’s always possible. If they want to be involved in ownership or management, it takes a totally different level of commitment.”
Last year, their son Michael and daughter-in-law Janique joined as partners, representing the third generation managing the family farm.
“I like working with animals and I don’t mind working hard,” said Michael, a father of three wee children with a fourth expected to arrive soon. “I liked growing up working with my family — and I want that for my kids too.”
The bustling business also employees 17 full-time staff members as well as some part-time workers.
About 15 years ago, when Halarda Farms’ manual milking parlour needed to be replaced, they set out to explore new options — and they discovered innovations in large robot barns that ended up transforming the future of the family farm.
They decided to build a new barn equipped with Lely Astronaut A3 robotic milking systems. Over time, they continued to add more robots while also increasing the size of their herd and in 2019 upgraded the robots to Lely A5s.
Today, Halarda Farms is home to nearly 3,000 Holsteins, including 1,300 milking cows that are milked an average of 2.8 times per day at 20 robotic stations.
The cows are separated into multiple groups depending on their age and stage of life. They all wear computerized collars that monitor everything from the cow’s movement to how they chew their cud.
“The infrared collars can calculate a chance that she’s sick. Any cow with a 70 per cent probability of being ill will automatically be put in a separate pen. If she’s in a sort pen, it will tell you the reason she’s there. It also indicates when she’s in heat and needs to be bred,” Anton says.
“The robotic system saves a lot of work. It gives the farmer a more flexible schedule, and robotic systems collect a lot of additional data on the cows that can be used for management decisions. With a herd this size, we’re trying to do management by exception.”
On any given day, about 20 cows are in the separate sort pen for treatment or recuperation.
“If we have to treat them with any kind of antibiotic, then there is a set milk withdrawal after the antibiotic is used. The milk is not allowed to be shipped, and we take that very seriously,” Anton said.
“We have a very close relationship with Morden Vet Clinic and they’re here once a week on Tuesdays. They do pregnancy checking and we’ll show them any cows that we’re not 100 per cent sure about.”
About 150 calves are born each month, with an average of five per day. The males are sent to Alberta while the females are raised on the farm for two to three lactation cycles. All the females undergo genetic testing so only the best are bred for replacement.
“Dairy cows are like high-end athletes,” Anton said. “They’re bred to give a lot of milk, so for them to be able to perform up to their potential, we need everything for their care to be right when it comes to nutrition and comfort.”
Comfort is key for maximizing milk production, which averages 41 litres daily per milking cow. Each day, Halarda Farms ships out about 50,000 litres, and all the milk is sold through the non-profit Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, which also designates the destination. Most of the milk from Halarda Farms ends up being processed in Winnipeg or St. Claude.
The climate is closely monitored in the well-ventilated barns, which have plenty of natural light. Other comfort measures include an automated bedding system that deposits freshly chopped straw. In the main pens, cows enjoy lounging on waterbeds with a foam underlay.
The animals undergo automated hoof baths four days per week, and a professional hoof-trimmer visits the farm weekly. Automated brushes provide even more creature comfort for pregnant cows.
The Borsts also hire a nutritionist to determine the right ratio of ingredients to feed their cows to maximize milk production with the best possible components. They grow their own crops on 5,000 acres of farmland and try to keep six months of feed in reserve. Healthy food is always within reach for the cows, thanks to the Lely Juno automatic feed pushers. Houle alley scrapers keep the barns clean by continually pushing manure to a channel under the floor. Eventually, the manure is used to fertilize their fields for a full-circle cycle.
Besides dealing with bovines, the dairy business involves many administrative aspects.
“On a farm our size, there is a lot of administration and data management, so there is a lot of office work. In addition, because there is some automation and equipment, there is also a lot of maintenance and repair work that needs to be done,” Anton said.
“On top of that, all these animals need to eat so we plant and grow and harvest a lot of feed for the cows during the summer and fall. Personally, I spend most of the time working in the office during the week with an occasional trip to barn. On weekends, when some of the regular staff are off, I will work in the barn and with the cows for part of the day.”
For Anton, the best part about being a dairy farmer is the opportunity to be his own boss.
“We enjoy the challenge and variety of the work. It takes a wide-ranging skill set to be an effective dairy farmer. You need to be able to understand cropping, animals, people and business,” says Anton, whose favourite dairy products are cheese and ice cream.
“We also enjoy seeing the industry evolve and change as technology evolves quickly in the dairy industry.”
And after a decade of robotic dairy farming, Anton doesn’t miss the manual method of milking.
“I have done it occasionally on a cow that was ill,” he said, “but it is a very inefficient way of harvesting milk.”
Looking ahead, the future is bright at Halarda Farms, which focuses on lean management to maximize efficiency.
“We are always looking for ways to become more efficient, be it by saving labour or saving costs,” Anton said.
“As expenses and interest rates increase, we need to find ways to maintain our margins so we can be profitable.”
Photos by Jennifer McFee and Samuel Burbano McFee
