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\r\n\u201cSamuel runs a tight ship,\u201d says Kim. \u201cHe stays in control, sees things coming, and is always prepared.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
That\u2019s been Samuel\u2019s approach ever since he took over the family dairy farm in 2015. At the time, the buildings needed upgrading, and the herd\u2019s performance wasn\u2019t always up to scratch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In 2018, a young Samuel and his father decided to invest in a new free-stall barn with a milking robot. While the cows seemed happy with the change, Samuel found that managing robotic milking put quite a weight on his shoulders. \u201cI was the only one who knew how to do it, and my technician was four hours away,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI never had a moment\u2019s peace.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Recently, that\u2019s led him to make an important decision: swap out the robot for a milking parlour. \u201cThis way, I know when I\u2019m going to work and when I\u2019m going to be done,\u201d he says. With the money he\u2019s saved on cattle feed and robot maintenance, he\u2019s also been able to hire a year-round employee to help with milking.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cSamuel has managed to keep production steady through all these changes,\u201d says Kim. \u201cEven when he changed his milking system, the production and profit margins stayed strong.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
She\u2019s not wrong\u2014Samuel is currently producing 102 kilograms of quota with 70 to 75 cows in milk. He was selected twice in Sollio Agriculture\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Dairy Performance Awards<\/a>, most recently with 2.55 kilograms per day (butterfat and protein).<\/p>\r\n\r\n In the next few years, Samuel aims to achieve the best\u00a0<\/span>margin per kilogram<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>possible. \u201cI do want good production, but it has to make financial sense as well,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I can keep the same quota but do it with fewer cows, I\u2019ll consider that a win.\u201d<\/p>\r\n To help him achieve that goal, his agri-advisor keeps a close eye on things. \u201cI use\u00a0<\/span>Lactascan<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>to track margins and other indicators,\u201d says Kim. \u201cSamuel\u2019s always above average on those fronts, but with my technical and financial analysis, I can see if there are still ways for him to improve.\u201d<\/p>\r\n She\u2019s always on hand when Samuel has questions or wants to try out a new product. \u201cWe always try to see what strategy would be a good fit financially and help him stay at the top.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Kim has been with Ferme des \u00c9tangs since she started out as an agri-advisor with Uniag Cooperative in 2011. She was there when Samuel took the reins. She was there when production went up after those initial investments. And now, she\u2019s there to help Samuel stay the course.<\/p>\r\n Kim has been one of the most consistent factors in the farm\u2019s success, and so has the network she represents. \u201cI really like the cooperative model,\u201d says Samuel. \u201cIt gives you access to a big network with expertise in a lot of different areas. And everyone works together toward common goals.\u201d<\/p>\r\nArticle published on Sollio Agriculture's website<\/a>"],"_flexible_article_0_description":["field_5f9b20e6c77da"],"flexible_article_0_id_lien":[""],"_flexible_article_0_id_lien":["field_5f9b20e6ca65a"],"flexible_article":["a:1:{i:0;s:4:\"text\";}"],"_flexible_article":["field_5f9b20e56f948"],"flexible":[""],"_wds_save_primary_category_nonce":["36a835f6a4"],"_wds_trimmed_excerpt":[""],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"],"wds_primary_category":["41"],"_thumbnail_id":["11095"],"_edit_lock":["1743447210:14"],"_edit_last":["14"],"_last_translation_edit_mode":["native-editor"],"_encloseme":["1"],"_flexible":["field_5d837ce5e1a9c"],"_wds_focus-keywords":[""],"wp-smush-lcp-data-d63893207a410aa93f3097fb226426b9":["a:6:{s:8:\"selector\";s:31:\".container-image > .ratio-image\";s:14:\"selector_xpath\";s:51:\"\/html\/body\/div[3]\/div\/div[2]\/main\/div[1]\/div[2]\/img\";s:11:\"selector_id\";s:0:\"\";s:14:\"selector_class\";s:11:\"ratio-image\";s:9:\"image_url\";s:113:\"https:\/\/b2089081.smushcdn.com\/2089081\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/temoignage-kim-samuel.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\";s:7:\"version\";i:0;}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniag.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lactascan: Financial monitoring for dairy farms<\/h2>\r\n
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