Good harvest of corn... good food for our cows.

 

Corn planting. Arpon
Corn planting. Arpon

At the end of the month of may, after harvesting the barley, we started planting corn on the grounds of irrigated Arpon has to do this. Today, two months later and seeing as sprouting cultivation can ensure that the harvest will be good.

A good harvest of maize is important because it depends much of our cows feeding in the coming months. This crop will begin to harvest in September and will serve as a forage food from our dairy cows.

One of the advantages of Arpon is the have 160 hectares (intended for maize irrigation 25) to cultivate their own fodder and thus:

  1. It ensures that the quality of farmed products is optimal because it directly affects the health of the cows and the taste of her milk.
  2. The farm allows independent oscillations of fodder prices in the domestic market. These prices have two years to increase by strong external demand and the production costs of many Spanish farms are unworkable to avocando them to a close.

The photos that we show in this publication have been taken yesterday afternoon and this morning.

 

 

 


Harvesting and silage from barley

 

barley

Taking advantage of good weather in the past week, we started to harvest and store 1,200,000 kg of forage barley. This forage harvested at its optimum ripeness and properly stored will be the basis of feeding our cows during the next 6 months.

Green barley is a nutritivito, easy to digest and appetising food for cows. It has been cultivated for Arpon in the region of Medina del Campo, where the quality of their crops is famous for its specialisation in forage for dairy cattle.

The process of stored is quick and easy. Forage is harvested directly in trucks that once filled target Arpon where the product is stored (ensile) quickly. For the stored we use a system of silage in bags of plastic called "Ag-Bag". This system, imported from the United States, is natural, effective and profitable for our exploitation due to multiple factors

  • It promotes better conservation of the forage.
  • It allows harvest forage at its optimum ripeness and keep it several months.
  • It boosts your energy value thanks to a fermentation process for the digestion of ruminants.
  • The retrieved fodder is appealing for the cows (so they don't lost the appetite with heat).

Next week, again when the weather will begin to harvest and store our own crop of barley, which we have cultivated in our Las Barrancas (150 hectares) farm 6 kilometers from Arpon facilities... and then... comenzaermos to cultivate corn.

Cultivate the field and store their products properly is just as important as the correct feeding of livestock. Thanks to Arpon agricultural and ranching tradition, we have been doing this work for over 50 years.


Corn planting in Arpon

Planting of corn in Priégola during the month of August.


Sowing of barley in Arpon

Sowing of barley in Priégola during the month of February.