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The second milking facility of Kaluzhskaya Niva OOO robotic farm was commissioned in the village of Boldasovka, Ferzikovo district, on November 3, 2015.

The official ceremony was attended by Anatoly Artamonov, Kaluga Region Governor, Leonid Gromov, the Minister for Agriculture of Kaluga Region, Stefan Duerr, CEO, EcoNiva – APK Holding OOO, and Matthias Platzeck, a representative of Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP).   

The new facility is one of the largest in Russia (up to 1,800 cows). The first milking facility equipped with eight milking robots was commissioned two years ago. The investment project is being implemented by EcoNiva – APK Holding OOO, one of the largest Russian-German agriculture holdings. The company’s CEO is Stefan Duerr. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony Anatoly Artamonov pointed out that the use of innovative processes related to cattle milking, handling and feeding allow to significantly increase milk production and improve the quality of milk. He said: “Such projects are of extreme importance for Kaluga Region agriculture development. Thanks to the use of innovative processes we produce high quality milk”. He also expressed hope that Kaluzhskaya Niva would build a milk processing facility as well.   

Stefan Duerr said that his company was ready to extend cooperation with Kaluga Region, and supported the Governor’s idea to establish a milk processing facility.  Stefan Duerr also pointed out that the new milking farm was a unique project in terms of its capacity and applied processes.  He said: “I am absolutely positive that we would make the new farm a model for European agriculture. Farmers from other countries will come to witness the scale of the facility”.

The honored guests visited the farm.  Currently it has three kennels with 32 robots. There is also a maternity barn and a young stock area. All handling and feeding processes have been mechanized.  There are about 2,000 livestock units at the farm including 973 cows. The milking herd is to reach 1,350 cows by the end of the year. The total amount of investments in the project reached RUR 992 million.