Video: Alztaler Hofmolkerei takes off with hay milk products
Franz Obereisenbuchner is 34 years old and not only runs a 50-hectare dairy farm, but also runs his own farm dairy to a very high standard. At the end of 2016, Franz converted his farm to hay milk. The certification of his farm as an official hay milk TSG farm was also recently completed.
Franz Obereisenbuchner produces a variety of high-quality foods with the Alztaler Hofmolkerei farm dairy.
The product portfolio ranges from organic yoghurt in a wide variety of flavors to unique cheese specialties. The likeable entrepreneur and farmer proves that with the best possible education (master farmer, dairy specialist), a little entrepreneurial risk-taking and the right products, a lot is possible.
Video: Successful with hay milk and our own dairy
We currently sell at a total of 11 weekly markets. Mobile sales stands and many hard-working sales staff are available for this purpose. At the end of 2016, further investments were made with the construction of a hay barn, including a hay crane and drying technology, and winter feeding was switched to hay. The certification process for hay milk has just been completed. Now his products can officially carry the hay milk logo g.t.s (guaranteed traditional specialty). By making the leap to hay milk, Obereisenbuchner’s farm has become an interesting niche producer. This is because only 3% hay milk is produced in the whole of Europe. This makes it rare and expensive.
In addition, hay milk can be used to produce particularly valuable foods. This has been impressively demonstrated by ARGE Heumilch Österreich, for example, in a commissioned omega-3 fatty acid study. According to the study, hay milk contains around twice as much omega-3 as conventional milk. These and other benefits are communicated to consumers through various advertising initiatives, and consumers are happy to pay for them. The money for the advertising comes from the producing and processing companies as well as EU funding. The result: Haymilk is 100% marketed and the milk-producing farms receive an average of 7 cents more per liter of haymilk.
So that Franz Obereisenbuchner can produce this special quality of milk economically in terms of milk yield, he invested in a hay drying system. This makes it possible to produce the best quality hay regardless of the weather. A fully hydraulic LASCO hay crane is used to transport the hay pre-dried in the field to one of the three hay boxes. The crane is equipped with a fully glazed cabin and a filter system. In good weather, the hay is dried with the power of the sun through a roof extraction system. In bad weather or at night, the intelligent drying control system automatically switches to recirculation mode.
A LASCO high-performance dehumidifier of the latest generation dehumidifies and heats the drying air in recirculation mode, thus enabling drying regardless of the weather.
Thanks to the professional planning of the drying system by LASCO, the project was implemented quickly and without complications.
The result is impressive. Machine-dried hay does not need to shy away from comparison with grass silage. This is hardly surprising. This is because the cutting time is almost identical and leaf losses are reduced due to the short time in the field. The marketing opportunities for hay milk are above average due to the positive occupation and the marketing work of ARGE Heumilch to date.
