Marmum registers 27% growth in past two years

Marmum Dairy Farm yesterday announced a growth rate of 27 per cent during 2006 and 2007. The dairy farm also anticipates milk production this year to touch 18 million litres.

The results comes on the back of Marmum’s decision to import 300 registered heifers from Australia last year. The last shipment of 115 heifers arrived on February 3, bringing the total number of heifers on the farm to more than 3,500.

“Marmum set a target of increasing milk production by 2.5 million litres last year. To that end, we decided to make a purchase of about 300 heifers. We then began to lookout for top-notch breeding stock with a close watch on the animals’ pedigree and genetics,” said SRK Raju, General Manager, Marmum. Marmum has seen tremendous growth over the past two years. The dairy herd has been augmented, while cutting-edge technology has brought the farm itself on par with international standards, the farm said in a statement.

The completion of Marmum’s second dairy parlour now allows the farm to milk 80 cows simultaneously. Cows are milked three times a day. Marmum expects to add an additional 430 of its own farm-bred heifers to its milking herd this year.

“We have noticed that heifers born and bred at Marmum produce about 1,000 litres of milk more than imported heifers, per year. This is one of the main reasons we prefer including our own home-bred heifers to our herd. Other reasons include biosecurity, disease prevention and animals better adapted to this region’s environmental conditions,” he said.