Texas: Volvo at the dairy farm

In the US, Volvo machines are involved in sustainable operations in the largest dairy in northeastern Texas.

Now away from the gold rush, Texas is now one of the largest dairy producers in the United States. With an annual rainfall of 910 mm and particularly long summers, the state is concentrating on raising livestock. Until the 1970s, it was behind in milk production. To go back to the world ranking of milk producers, many farmers have been forced to modernize their farms.

Established more than half a century ago, Still Meadow Dairy moved its dairy operation in 1986 from Holland to Texas. Three decades later, the family business is flourishing. There are 3,000 dairy cows and 3,000 calves and dry cows. The farm produces more than 39 million liters of milk each year.

To maintain economical operation, Still Meadow employs highly efficient Volvo CE machines to perform its daily tasks of feeding and loading waste. The company has seven gears supplied by the Romco Equipment distributor, including the L70D, L70E, L90C, L90D, L90F, L110F and L150E wheel loaders. The largest of these, the L150E, is used to load, condition and level silage (fermented grass feed) in storage warehouses.

The machine works alongside a L90C wheel loader purchased in 1997, totaling 43,000 hours of work. It is equipped with a customized Dymax bucket with a capacity of 1.9 m3 and features sloping sides offering the operator a good visibility to locate curious cows.