This has been revealed by the annual milk recording statistics of the CRV cooperative. A combination of a longer productive life (+75 days) and higher milk production (+0.2kg of milk per day) is behind this increase in lifetime production.
In this financial year, the rolling annual average of Dutch dairy cows also increased to 9203kg of milk with 4.40% fat and 3.60% protein. The percentage of protein and kilograms of milk is still showing a rising trend.
The herd size on the farms participating in milk recording has increased this year from an average of 99 cows to 104 cows. As the cows are kept on the farms for longer, at 240,216 the number of culled cows was at a relatively low level. The number of productive days increased by 75 days to 1183. This means that the average number of calvings has risen to 3.6 calvings per cow. The calving interval has remained stable at 407 days.