At the height of Covid-19 in 2020, over 500 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were flown from Australia to Kirisu Dairy Farm in Opheasaing village of Kandoeng commune in Takeo province’s Bati district.

Just three years later, the imported cows have given birth to over 1,000 calves across three generations.

The cows are raised to produce milk using advanced milking technology, and each of the calves is fitted with a chip in their ankles to monitor their health.

“We put a chip in the ankles of the cattle aged 12 and over to monitor their health condition at all time. For example, when cows feel unwell, we often cannot sense it, but the chip is able to sense it when the cows plod, or if they stand or sleep for too long, or when they graze inadequately or abnormally,” said Chhor Rithy, executive director of Khmer Fresh Milk Co Ltd, which owns the farm.

He added that these behaviours will cause a warning alert in their system and when they bathe and return, the unhealthy cattle will have the door close on them enough to hold them in place automatically so that the veterinarian can examine them.

“So, the attendants do not need to look for the cattle anywhere, but they go through the door and if it signals to hold them there the veterinarians check their health,” he said.

Fitting them with sensors on their ankles provides solutions to five problems dairy farms face: Searching for the animals, identifying their birth dates, making sure they are rested and watching out for their welfare. It helps increase the pregnancy rate for the cows by identifying the animals that are due to be bred, with an automatic computerized system monitoring the chips 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Modern technology can also recognise the identity of each animal in the milking range and subdivide the species into different species if a farmer has more than one type of cattle.

Fertility information is provided when the cattle begin to give birth and when it takes a long time to give birth. The use of technology aims to provide timely intervention for any problems that arise and avoid complications or the death of calves.

“Cattle spend more than nine months pregnant, just like humans,” company co-founder Chy Sila said.

In addition, the health monitoring system identifies health and welfare issues, such as overcrowding, inadequate sleep, overactivity or other issues that disrupt their welfare and can affect their production.

“With the chips fitted into the ankles of the cattle at the age of 12 months, when they reach adulthood and can breed, the chip is useful for monitoring the activities of the cattle that need to find males and to allow the correct breeding to take place according to the data the chip provides to the computer,” said assistant farm manager Chhem Phyna.

Chhor Rithy said that the farm is now milking more than 10,000 litres per day from the cows. The farm has a mini-lab for testing the milk for problems and when it finds that the milk has a problem it will be discharged without allowing any to flow into the container.

He added that before producing milk, whether it’s regular fresh milk, sugar-free milk, chocolate milk, coffee milk or yogurt alike, the milk is tested many times. First, the milk has to go through the mini-lab. Then before it is put into the bottle for pasteurisation it has to be tested again. Before it is bottled, it has to be tested again and within 48 hours, it is tested yet again.

“If it is tested five times, we will be able to bring those products to the market. We can guarantee the cleanliness and quality of our product, which has so far received the support of the Cambodian people,” he said.

Chy Sila recalled that since the construction to the first drop of milk, it took more than four years for the first Kirisu Farm products to be distributed in the markets and supermarkets, which has now reached between 2,000 and 3,000 places.

“In this sense, we think it is one step towards success. First, we gained a foothold as a local company and the first Cambodian dairy farm that has large distribution and large production scales,” he said.

He added that after the Covid-19 crisis abated, the farm began receiving students and visitors for tours because Kirisu Farms knows the value of word of mouth in promoting their product.

“We take one person to visit the farm and that person continues to promote it to at least 10 other people,” Chhor Rithy said.

He added that when it comes to storing milk the dairy farm wants to change people’s habits because milk cannot be stored outside of refrigeration for very long without going bad and potentially making people ill.

While visiting the Kirisu Farms on February 24, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Dith Tina said that raising dairy cattle helps expand nutrition for children who consumed the good and nutritious milk, allowing them to become good athletes or scientific researchers with good brains.

Last year, Kirisu Farms won the National Entrepreneurship Award 2022 and the Green Award from the ASEAN Young Entrepreneur Awards 2022.