Young farmer
Simon Čretnik
In April 2016, Simon Čretnik took over the dairy farm in Pernovo pri Žalcu in the middle of the Savinja valley. Last spring, he moved the dairy cattle to a new, bigger barn free-range where the animals have enough space to move and always lie down on a dry floor. The innovative floor is the barn’s biggest attraction. The Dutch company ID Agro built the first High Welfare Floor (HWF floor) system which ensures the animals maximum comfort, while saving Simon Čretnik a lot of work.
The HWF is always dry and clean, therefore the animals have healthy hoofs, rest more and produce more milk. The floor consists of three layers which are permeable to fluid. They facilitate the immediate separation of urine and faeces, which is removed from the floor by a robot. Thereby, they prevent diseases and considerably decrease ammonia emissions occurring in the barn.
The barn provides superior comfort and is, thus, also called pasture under a roof. The dairy robot is at the cattle’s disposal 24 hours a day. For scratching, they have brushes. Ventilators provide fresh air and a lower, more pleasant temperature for the cows. Due to the innovative HWF flooring, Čretnik’s barn is visited by farmers from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark …
