Experience family Boerkamp

Starting a new dairy farm in Sweden was a dream that Rob and Anne Boerkamp realized last year. In a brandnew and modern barn they keep around 450 cows . The cows enjoy a high level of comfort with the Dutch Mountain cow mattress and the Dreamstall freestall featuring a stall width of no less than 140 cm. “We finally have the barn we’ve always dreamed of. The cooperation with Cowhouse International gave us the opportunity to make that dream come true,”  Rob and Anne say.

The Boerkamp family has been living in Sweden for some time now. In the town of Fjärdhundra, north of Stockholm, they bought an arable farm to start a new dairy farm. In 2025, a beautiful new dairy barn named "Västervad Mjölk" was built there.

The spacious, modern barn accommodates approximately 450 dairy cows. The Boerkamp family opted for the new Dreamstall freestalls combined with Dutch Mountain cow mattresses. "Longevity and a high lifetime production are our top priorities," says Rob Boerkamp. Therefore, the cows were given  stalls of no less than 140 cm wide. "This is exactly the comfort we were looking for," says the farmer. "We see the benefits of these comfortable stalls every day. Cows lie down and stand up quickly. Thanks to the mattress’s they have good traction and the absence of a shoulderbar, the cows feel safe in these freestalls. On the soft and resilient Dutch Mountain mattresses  they don't experience pain when they lie down," they say with satisfaction.

On the farm, the cows are milked with six Lely A5 robots, and an automatic auger system provides chopped straw in front of  the mattresses. The purchased cows are already producing considerably more than on the farms they came from. The pregnant heifers are also doing very well. "It's going as we hoped," the Boerkamp family reports with satisfaction.

There is a lot of interest in the innovative barn from fellow farmers and advisors. This was also the reason for organizing an open house in the fall of 2025. The farmers are often asked by fellow farmers and advisors why the cows are so calm and relaxed in the barn. "They're not stressed," they say. "Our cows have plenty of space in the Dreamstall and walkways. They feel free in the barn," say Rob and Anne. The Skywall ventilation system ensures an optimal climate in the barn. In the summer, it can be fully opened, and now in the winter, it keeps the icy cold out.

Currently, the average milk production is 35 liters per cow per day. "We're seeing production increase even further, and the cows have good fertility."

Rob and Anne are very happy with their new barn and are already seeing excellent results. "We now have a barn that we've dreamed of for years. The partnership with Cowhouse has given us the opportunity to realize our dream," say Rob and Anne.