Casa Crespo SC is located in the parish of Santiago de Saa (Lugo) and has been in operation for more than three decades. It began with the parents of Eloy Luaces, who currently continues to run the cattle ranch together with his wife, Esther Lage, and his son, Víctor Luaces. This boy joined in 2019 and with him came an expansion of the herd, which increased to 56 cubicles, and they installed the milking robot.
They have a total of 94 animals, of which 50 are adult cows and 44 heifers, and 42 of the cows are in milking. The average production is 43.26 liters per cow per day, according to the average of the last week of June. The fat percentage is between 3.5% (summer) and 3.9% (winter), and the protein percentage is 3.24%. The count is around 140,000 and the bacteriology is below 10,000.
The animals are fed on grass silage at their discretion, with plenty of fiber, and feed in the robot and feeding station. The grass is harvested from the 26 ha (20 ha owned and 6 leased) that they cultivate to ryegrass and on which they make between 2 and 3 cuts. “The production we collect is just enough to feed all the cattle. We have been buying rolls of grass for two years now”. Eloy emphasizes that “we do all the agricultural work in the afternoon, trying to avoid fog and the “orballo” of the early morning hours. In summer, if it is hot, we still start around 12 noon”.
Regarding genetics, at Crespo’s they are clear about the criteria they look for in bulls. First, for heifers, they must be sexed, “we also use some for the cows of which we want to have a daughter”, explains Víctor. The next criteria they look for is that they are A2A2, “it is the most important”, then that they are positive or as neutral as possible in reta legs, teats close to long for the robot and finally a high volume of milk production and a higher percentage of fat.
The future of livestock farming
Victor was born and raised among the animals, so he decided that his future had to be in livestock farming: “I always liked the farm life”. He indicates that they were doing well, “we had received several awards for annual production and since they took the step to modernize us with the robot, I decided to take the plunge”.
He indicates that, with a view to when his parents retire, “I don’t know how the situation is going to be, I would have to count on employees or maybe value joining with another cattle ranch”. He explains that they already tried to do it two years ago, but the bureaucratic obstacles prevented it from being carried out. “If the laws change in the next few years, I could try again”.
EXPERIENCE WITH THE COOPERATIVE
How is your experience with the cooperative?
Eloy: I have been on the Governing Council for more than thirty years and I have always supported the cooperative because it gives me peace of mind. The cooperative is there to provide the services it has in the best conditions. My relationship with the cooperative is to ask if they have what I need, if they can offer it to me, fine, if not I look for it elsewhere, but I do not claim that they do not have it.
What do you think should be improved in AIRA?
Victor: One of the improvements could be to speed up the prescription process with the collection of medications. That is to say, when a veterinarian comes and prescribes some medications, they are not available when we go to pick them up. They should look for a tool that allows them to know in the corresponding delegation what medications we need to have available to be able to pick them up.
What is your assessment of these years since the integration of AIRA?
Eloy: A very positive balance. Now there is the complexity of working at higher volumes, but the work is more profitable.
You use the treatment management program, why did you decide to incorporate it?
Victor: We were one of the farms that were part of the implementation process. We consider it an important step forward. It makes the work much easier and you don’t have to enter so much data.
Do you encourage other farmers to incorporate it?
Victor: Yes, of course. The sooner they start using it, the better. The future depends on technology and these programs facilitate the daily work of livestock farming.
Eloy: I don’t use it much, but I see that it is simpler. You have to spend some time to learn it and it is very useful for livestock farming.
