A Galician Dairy Farm Uses Technology and Cheese-Making for Succession
Lucía López Sobrado studied veterinary medicine in Madrid and worked away from the family holding before returning to Puluán SC. She had remained connected to the farm during her studies, travelling back at weekends to help with milking. She now drives tractors, prepares animal bedding and performs other production tasks, while also managing the cheese-making operation and visits for agrotourism.
The holding uses applications on phones and computers to monitor livestock-management parameters. López Sobrado also consults artificial-intelligence tools on matters related to the farm’s three business lines: dairy production, cheese-making and tourism. She said that digital systems, automated equipment, robots and machinery for moving feed can reduce the time required for some jobs and improve the organisation of work.
“New technologies make it possible to optimise resources and save time. That is decisive in making livestock farming an attractive occupation,” López Sobrado said. Puluán SC is examining the possible installation of robotic milking equipment. The change could involve keeping fewer animals so that the equipment’s capacity is used more efficiently, while freeing time for the farm’s other activities.
The dairy operation
The farm has 150 cows in milk and a further 150 dry cows and heifers, all of the Friesian breed. Milking takes place twice a day in a 16-point herringbone parlour, with each session lasting about two hours. Average output is 38.5 litres per cow per day, varying between 38 and 40 litres during the year. The milk contains 3.6% protein and 3.9% fat.
Puluán SC works about 200 hectares, roughly half owned and half rented. Its main crops are maize, ryegrass and alfalfa, with about 40 hectares devoted specifically to maize. The land lies within the Val de Lemos irrigation district, providing access to irrigation during periods of heat and drought. The division of the land into separate plots limits the use of that infrastructure, according to the report.
The farm’s breeding strategy also reflects its cheese-making plans: it seeks milk suited to processing. About 20% of current production is made into cheese under the Lácteos Ribeira Sacra business. The dairy has a 3,000-litre reception tank, a pasteuriser, a 2,500-litre production vat, maturing rooms, a drying room and refrigeration equipment.
Processing and farm visits
López Sobrado has said she would like to increase the share of milk sent to the dairy to between 80% and 90%, and possibly use all of the farm’s production for cheese in the future. That would accompany a possible reduction in the number of animals and a greater emphasis on processing rather than volume alone.
Puluán SC also receives groups, students and older visitors. Tours explain the operation of a dairy farm and the stages of milk production, and end with a tasting of the farm’s cheeses and wines from Ribeira Sacra. One of the cheeses is macerated in wine from wineries covered by the local designation of origin.
López Sobrado identifies recruitment as a problem alongside generational succession. Of about 40 young people who attended school with her, she recalls that only she and two others who already had farms remained directly connected with the activity; another friend developed an agricultural project. She also cited unstable prices paid to producers as a factor that makes investment and expansion more difficult to plan.
