A dairy farm expands to 230 cows without adding staff
Pieter Verhagen’s farm initially had about 160 cows when its first milking robots were installed. The herd later exceeded 200 animals, producing more than 11,500kg per lactation. A larger herd increased the farm’s dependence on the equipment: a major failure could have left at least one-third of the cows without milking for half a day.
The farm therefore added a fourth robot, helped by what Verhagen described as very good milk prices in 2024 and 2025. The machine created capacity for ten more cows, and the herd subsequently reached 230. The replacement rate is about 12%, partly because restocking has been slower. Reaching 250 cows remains possible, but is not an immediate target because of licensing restrictions and rules linking production to available land.
The farm has not increased its owned acreage since Verhagen’s father settled there. It leases roughly 20 to 25 hectares a year, while land purchases face competition from horticulture, tree cultivation and other uses. The property lies about 2km from Son en Breugel, where provincial authorities, the water board and environmental organisations also affect land prices. In a recent deal, the brothers offered more than €15 per square metre for several hectares but lost by €0.70 per square metre.
Land constraints also affect manure management. The farm produces about 9,000 cubic metres of manure annually, while its owned and rented land can absorb around 3,000 cubic metres. In 2025, disposing of just under 6,000 cubic metres cost approximately €120,000, including spreading, or about €20 per cubic metre. The surplus is sent to other farms.
Verhagen and his younger brother began an agricultural services company in February 2025 after a regional operator closed and equipment in good condition became available. Verhagen invested €400,000 and transferred his machinery to the new company. Annual loan payments are about €110,000, matching the amortisation payments of the dairy farm. He spends roughly one day a week on administration and management, while his brother handles daily operations. The company also helps reduce machinery and manure-disposal costs.
The dairy expansion has required other spending. Since 2018, the farm has invested about €400,000 in phosphate rights for an additional 100 cows, alongside the fourth robot, the upkeep of more animals and the replacement of a self-propelled feed mixer. The farm uses a total mixed ration prepared in that mixer, taking about an hour each day. Even after two favourable years, Verhagen said that little cash remains available.
The farm switched to Procross breeding, combining Holstein, Viking Red and Montbéliarde, after previously using MRIJ and Holstein cattle. Verhagen said the change was intended to reduce herd-health problems. The calving interval is below 400 days, cows average 2.5 inseminations, and veterinary costs are below €0.015 per kilogram of milk. Annual replacement is just under 20%, compared with about 35% a decade ago. More than half of the dairy herd receives beef-breed semen, reducing the number of young animals that must be kept and increasing the value of sales.
The farm employs outside help for one day a week, while Verhagen’s 72-year-old father participates daily. Calves are kept apart from older animals, with 20 individual hutches and four movable group pens. The farm resumed grazing in 2020 after 20 years without it, mainly to receive a €0.015-per-litre premium from FrieslandCampina. The cows returned to the barn after the robots were installed, while young animals continue to graze. Verhagen is considering outsourcing the rearing of young stock to a nearby operation and says future decisions will also depend on succession: he and Laura have three children, and their eldest has shown an interest in farming.
