From 25 cows in Austria to managing 1,000 cows in Germany

On this week’s Irish Farmers Journal Young Stock podcast Janik Marek discussed his journey from his small home farm in Austria to managing a large-scale dairy herd in Germany.

Janik who is now 22 years old grew up in rural Austria on a small family farm with a fascination for agriculture and dairy farming, in particular.

At the age of 14, Janik began a course at a local agricultural college with no idea of what exactly he wanted to do at that stage. After five years of study, he graduated from the college and was considering his options.

The home farm consists of 25 Fleckvieh x Brown Swiss cows milked all year round, producing on average 8,000l/cow. The current received milk price for the Mareks is 55c/l, including bonuses.

The herd are out at grass by day and in by night throughout the year. The area receives around 1,500mm of rain per annum with a heavy clay soil type, so grazing can be challenging with bigger cows.

Calves

However, Fleckvieh calves are a big part of the business and this makes up for some of the poaching done by the cows. The current calf price sits at around €800/head for one-month-old calves, according to Janik.

The farm at home, while a well-run enterprise, couldn't sustain both Janik and his parents, so after college he took the option of a job with a local construction company.

Two years on, he realised that was not a job he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing and made the brave decision to move to Germany in January 2025.

With a real passion for dairy farming by now, Janik took a role on a 1,000-cow farm on the Germany/Denmark border. The farm is a family-owned business operated across 800ha.

It’s an all year round, fully-housed system with 11 people working full-time. The cows are all Holstein animals, fed a diet of zero-grazed grass, maize silage, corn shells and soyabeans.

The milk price in Germany, like in Ireland, is on the decline, with the current price down to 45c/l from where it was at over 53c/l, less than two months ago.

The heifers are all bred with sexed semen, with just 50 of the cows getting a sexed straw. The rest of the cows are bred with Belgian Blue AI and those calves are receiving prices of €900/head.

The herd of cows are milked through a 24-unit double-up DeLaval parlour, with 170 cows milked per hour.

Future

Generational renewal is not just a big issue on Irish farms; it is a hot topic across mainland Europe too, according to Janik. There are many older farmers out there currently with no successors who are looking at exploring different opportunities.

Land price in Janik’s region of Austria has gone out of control he says, so he has started looking at options elsewhere. His long-term goal is to own 1,000 cows by the age of 30 and he doesn’t care where he has to go to achieve this.

In January, Janik is moving to Slovakia where he will take up a role as herd manager on a 400-cow farm.

The reason for choosing Slovakia he says, is the potential for growth and the greater chance of starting his own business in time to come.

Janik is in no rush to return home for now as he doesn’t see the same potential to grow there.

An ambitious young man with clear goals and time on his side, the interview is worth a listen for all.

It can be found here on the Irish Farmers Journal website, via the Irish Farmers Journal app, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.