The Lovsta dairy farm is a livestock research center ten kilometers outside central Uppsala. The center focuses on LEARN- Livestock Extension And Research Network- to exchange information from the research center and the farmers of Sweden. Strikingly, both the presenters, Ola Schultgberg and Torkel Ekman, studied as veterinarians before becoming diary managers.
We began the lecture with a brief history of dairy farming in Sweden. In 1960, there were 220,000 farmers, 90% of whom raised diary cows. Every decade since 1960, the number of diary farmers in Sweden has decreased by half. Today, only 4,900 (10%), of Swedish farmers raise dairy cows. Swedish milk production has been recorded over the last 100 years thanks to 85% of Swedish dairy farmers participating in the recording program. This database shows us milk and dairy production has not dropped significantly even as the number of dairy farmers has decreased. The size of dairy operations is growing. However, most herds have less than 50 cows.
Today, 45% of Swedish milk is used for drinking milk and yogurt. One third of Swedish milk is made into cheese. Oddly enough, I did not consume much cheese while in Sweden. I did enjoy the most delicious Swedish milk and yogurt. It was naturally sweet and creamy; it was the most wonderful milk I have ever tasted. I enjoyed the Swedish food and drink a great deal, so I was astonished this morning when I decided to step on my family's scale. I lost six pounds while in Sweden. Despite an obsession with running in high school which culminated in running a marathon the summer after my graduation, I have not weighed this little since the seventh grade. I am convinced this is due to all the fresh food we were served and that we snacked lightly between each meal. I sense a new diet craze hitting the United States: the Swedish way.
10% of the milk in Sweden is organic. Organic cows produce 1000 kilo less per cow than the conventional cow (this is a comparison of 8000 kilo to 9000 kilo). The farm managers of Lovsta said they did not see a great difference between the health of organic milk and that of conventional milk. The health of milk is measured by cell count; the higher the milk cell count, the lower the health of the milk. Norway has the best milk health on average, next Finland, then Sweden. The farm managers attributed Norwegian milk quality to large government subsidies. For example, a Norwegian farmer has monetary intensive from his government to keep many different types of cows. Climate is also a factor in milk health. In Iceland, cool temperatures and large quantities of rain cause hay to mold, which results in worse milk health. The breed of cow also influences the product quality. Holsteins have the worst milk health in Sweden because they were bread for production in quantity. Not surprisingly, the Swedish Red and White produces the highest quality milk.
As in all other livestock production in Sweden, antibiotics are prescribed, not given to the animals as a preventative measure. Norway also practices this method, and not surprisingly, Norway and Sweden have some of the lowest rates of antibiotic resistance. Studies in the Netherlands and Denmark have shown lower rates of antibiotic use result in higher human health.
After our visit, I still have questions. One of my most burning questions is the difference between female and male farmers in Sweden. In other nations, there is distinct difference between the farming styles of the sexes. Sweden is incredibly progressive in gender equality, and I am interested to see how this manifests itself in agriculture. For mundane example, most of the rest rooms are unisex. We were also told it would not be uncommon for a Swedish woman to hit on a man at a club or bar. Since I am so shy when it comes to introducing myself to others, this would be difficult for me!
I found the presentation very interesting. Thank you, Lovsta! If you have further questions, we can do more research and/or contact those I met from IAAS Sweden and Lovsta to learn more.
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