Milk in Sweden

As the farm grows, new personnel are needed. A farm
requires about one employee per 50 cows. While the role
of employer is demanding, many also perceive it as a step
up the social ladder. Cooperation among dairy farms is
increasingly common, as is joint ownership of machinery
or several smaller farms collaborating on a jointly owned
cow-house. Apart from increasing profi tability, such cooperation
puts dairy farmers in contact with their colleagues
and gives them more free time.
ANOTHER TREND IS FOR SOME farmers to specialize in
keeping recruitment animals or in receiving bull calves
from the dairy farms. It is more usual that dairy farmers
purchase feed from nearby farms instead of growing as
much as possible themselves.
Did you know…
One in five Swedes can envisage
becoming a dairy farmer. The
prospect is most attractive
among persons aged 32 to 43.
Advisers are increasingly signifi cant in the support they
provide to dairy farmers, helping them combine biology,
technology and fi nance to the best e� ect, and keeping the
farms up to date with the latest research fi ndings, advan ced
computer systems, etc. This also applies to advice on
environmental management on the farm. Most of the
en vironmental focus concerns reducing the use of nitrogen
fertilizer.
The fact that the number of applications to agricultural
colleges is record-high indicates that confi dence in the
future is increasing in the industry. There are both large
and small dairy farms that are profi table. For those with
the desire and the ability to invest the necessary e� ort,
there are excellent opportunities for successful entrepreneurship.
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