“By bringing modern farming technology to the Philippine agricultural landscape, MPAV is here to change the face of Filipino farming for good,” Jovy Hernandez, President and CEO of MPAV told the audience at the launch of the Metro Pacific Dairy Farms in Bay, Laguna.
Ninety-nine percent of the Philippines’ milk products are imported. Digitalizing the dairy farm is seen as the best way to tip the scales in the current local dairy industry. The aim is to hit at least 10 percent of local milk supply by the time the farm is in full operation. Apart from the LR Group MPAV is cooperating with the province of Laguna, University of the Philippines at Los Baños, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Dairy Authority in a campaign it calls #FreshForward.
This modern farming technology will extend to all agricultural ventures of MPAV, but at the MPDF, it is all about creating a facility that will improve milk production—the initial target is about 6 million liters annually—from about 600 milking Holstein-Friesian cows by 2025, the year the MPAV dairy farm is expected to be in full production.
The LR Group leads the implementation of the necessary agriculture technology for MPDF. Starting with knowing the needs and available resources, manpower and technologies LR brings a mindset needed to create development by applying innovation and out-of-the-box thinking to the agriculture field.
“We will operate the dairy farm using proven technologies from our many ventures globally. This includes Cloud-based systems and monitoring devices on the cows themselves. We need to meet our target of approximately 30 liters of milk per cow. Our proven processes incorporate feed mills, dairy processing facilities, and agricultural operations—for corn production for example—to ensure high-quality protein sources for the cows,” Ami Lustig, co-founder of the LR Group told Malaya Business Insight.
LR Group will provide both the production and dairy operations processes which include state-of-the-art Cloud technologies to help monitor the cows while MPDF manages the marketing of its products of which Carmen’s Best, a recent acquisition of the MPAV will be the first client. The arrangement with the LR Group also means that with their expertise, the development of the local agricultural industries—first surrounding Bay, Laguna and may expand across the Southern Luzon region guarantees offtake, allowing farmers to more productive ensuring economic success.
“We will have essentially like a smartwatch on the cows,” Ron Ben Yami, chief technology officer and also a co-founder of the LR Group. He said that monitoring the cows’ movements, basic vital signs, and feeding patterns can reflect back on the production and inventory of feeds.
“Happy cows are important to the whole ecosystem. Happy cows make the best milk,” Hernandez said adding that the MPDF is a commercial operation—consolidated resources and infrastructure to offer the best products to the market.
“To get the freshest grains to mill and feed the cows is part of how well we treat them—knowing that the cows are central to this success of a dairy farm,” Yami added, emphasizing how agro-industry will ensure high yield while generating jobs throughout the community.
MPDF will also implement global, sustainable technological advancements. MPDF will be equipped with solar farms that will produce power for the dairy facility, a water treatment plant that will provide human-grade drinking water for cattle, and a waste management facility that will allow the facility to produce fertilizer.
Source: Malaya Business Insight
January 04, 2023
