A high-tech integrated dairy farm in Perambalur district believes in keeping its cows happy at all times

Like many villages swept aside by the National Highway, Arumbavur in Perambalur district doesn’t get many visitors.

Once known only for its wood carving artisans, for the past seven years though, Arumbavur has been the home of Mid Valley Foods Pvt Ltd, a 120-acre integrated farm that mixes data analytics with native animal husbandry practices to produce additive-free cow’s milk.

The remote location is a deliberate choice. “Perambalur is the district with the highest production of maize in Tamil Nadu, and the silage we feed our livestock is comprised largely of fermented corn stalks; being situated at the back of the Pachamalai hills, we have a free flow of air that keeps our land slightly cooler than the outer areas and lastly, geologically, Arumbavur is not prone to natural calamities,” explains proprietor P Vijaykumar.

Looking at the free range Holstein-Fresian, Gir, Ongole, Sahiwal and Jersey cows contentedly chewing cud, sitting in slush or walking up to a mechanical brush that gives an invigorating scratching session, it’s obvious that bovine bliss is given top priority here.

A tasty pickle The maize-based silage that Mid Valley’s cows are said to be very fond of, is actually an old recipe that Vijaykumar picked up from his agriculturist family roots in Mayiladuthurai. “We cut down corn stalks 73 days before harvest, process them with jaggery and salt, and keep the mixture covered for 28 days. Once this ‘uruga pullu’ (pickled grass) is fermented, we mix it with other fodder components, and give it to our cows throughout the year,” says Vijaykumar.

Retail push

While Mid Valley already supplies milk to larger commercial dairies in the State, it has recently started retailing its own farm-fresh variety under the brand ‘Happy Tales.’

Mid Valley packages and sends approximately 500 litres of Happy Tales milk daily, to Chennai, where around 600 customers have signed up for the farm’s mobile phone application-based delivery system.

“While India leads in milk production, our milk quality is quite poor in terms of hygiene and composition,” says Vijaykumar. “Most companies make milk powder during winter, when milk output is in excess, and then mix it with water and resell it during summer,” he claims.

Happy Tales milk has a fat content of 3.2% and solid-not-fat (SNF) level of 8.3%, in keeping with the nationwide rule enforced by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently.

P Vijayakumar has started retailing milk under the Happy Tales brand in completely biodegradable paper cartons. Photo: M.Moorthy / The Hindu

Sustainable farming

Mid Valley grows its own cattle feed and chills the milk within half an hour of its production before packing it in completely biodegradable ‘gable top’ paper cartons on site.

It also follows sustainable practices with facilities for bio-gas production, rainwater harvesting, water treatment, solar energy and research. Vijaykumar has invested ₹23 crores into the farm’s growth so far.

“Most dairy farmers add urea or de-oiled rice bran (DROB) to the feed to bump up the milk output. We use silage, and a fodder mixture that is customised to maintain a standard level of acetate in the blood of our livestock,” says Vijaykumar.

Chips in control

As Vijaykumar spends most of his working week in Chennai and Delhi where he runs an events management company, he relies on computerisation to monitor the dairy along with the 60 staff who stay on the farm.

Each animal has a blue collar tag with a unique microchip number. “Of the 368 cows here, 160 are used for milking. The microchip helps us not just to track each cow’s health and daily milk output, but also to decide if it can be selected for breeding in future,” says Vijaykumar

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A cow with an RFID tag and unique identification code hanging around the neck at the dairy farm of Mid Valley Foods Pvt Ltd in Perambalur district. Photo: M. Moorthy/The Hindu

Milking is done twice a day, at 4am and 2.30pm. At a shed built with ramps, cows march up 12 to a side. Their udders are individually sanitised by farm workers before automated milking machines are attached to them. As the milk gets directly piped into a 5000-litre chilling tank (to prevent it from spoiling), a digital monitor displays the litres per animal. The milk is then homogenised and pasteurised, and stored at -15 degrees C to preserve its nutrients.

“Even though our milk has a shelf life of 10 days, we prefer to bring back our surplus stock daily and feed it to our heifers, rather than sell it in the open market,” says Vijaykumar.

Price factor

The premium treatment naturally reflects on the price as well.

“Happy Tales costs ₹80 per litre, mainly because we produce the milk in a controlled environment. The average farmer may spend ₹26 per litre, but my expenditure on staff and technology make it go up to ₹38,” says Vijaykumar.

Already setting his sights on selling Happy Tales in other cities like Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Tiruchi, and starting units to produce milk by-products, Vijaykumar feels high-tech dairy projects will attract more educated players soon. “Aspiring farmers should spend at least 3 years to set up the infrastructure and wait for 4 more years for their dairy to turn a profit. Many people use up their bank loans well before the farm becomes profitable. If you plan ahead, dairy farming can be a very rewarding occupation,” he says.