Farmer plans shed for 1,000 head of cattle

Dairy farmer Martin Schuler of Drälikon has plans to build a shed large enough to house 1,040 head of cattle, though he only intends to keep between 700 and 850.

It is actually on land which makes up part of the plain of the River Reuss known as the Chueweid that the 34-year-old has plans for this enormous 200-metre by 50-metre cowshed, rising to a height of 20 metres, which would be the largest in the country. One huge advantage of this new cowshed, he claimed, would be that it would benefit from natural air circulation and therefore not need an artificial system. Furthermore, it would not be sited in a groundwater-protected zone, either.

At present, the farmer looks after a herd of  255 Jersey cattle and 173 young cattle, not forgetting a further 76 housed elsewhere. With a new cowshed it was planned to accommodate all of them on one site on his 30-hectare farm.

However, the Swiss Countryside Protection Foundation (SL) is not happy with Schuler’s project, saying the planned cowshed is far too big, with the amount of slurry caused inevitably having a deleterious effect on the meadows, and accentuating the nitrate pollution of the ground. “It would be tantamount to an animal factory and damage the image of the Swiss countryside as people know it,” they said. While Schuler said he had invited representatives of the SL to come and inspect the site, none of them had turned up. However, the managing director of the SL, Raimund Rodewald, has told the Zuger Zeitung that he intended to visit the site soon in an attempt to dissuade the farmer from going ahead with his ambitious plans.

It is likely his arguments will fall on deaf ears, as Schuler, a father of three and a member of the third generation of his family to farm this land, wants to go ahead with it to assure his continuing existence as a farmer. As he explained, he really needs to double the number of cattle he currently looks after just to be able to survive, however he is prepared to increase it solely by 50%. As he further explained, the area per cow in the new shed would be double the size currently recommended by animal protection regulations. Naturally the farmer is having to look at it all from an economic standpoint, only healthy cows living longer and thereby ensuring a more lucrative business. Schuler also plans an on-site dairy, to provide drinking milk and yoghurt production.

It seems the farmer may have got his ideas for such a huge shed after travelling in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Denmark. “I have noticed there is a greater level of innovation abroad than here,” he said. “Let it not be forgotten that it is often the one who appears to have crazy ideas today who is the visionary of tomorrow. The problem here is that people demand innovation from farmers yet still expect things to look like they did one hundred years ago.”

Of course, Schuler expected there would be objectors to his plans, which is why he has produced an explanatory brochure and set up a website where all is made clear, showing, for example, that with poplar trees on two sides of it, the shed does not seem quite so big. What is more, in this case he needs the support of locals in a referendum, which could be held as early as next summer.