Almarai is one of the largest dairy farms in the world milking over 93,000 dairy cows in the Arabian Dessert in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, Roger Barkley, the Farm Manager of the Cappoquin Estate spoke to the Teagasc Dairy Farm Management class about his seven year stint on Saudi’s largest dairy farm.
“In March 2000, I boarded a plane after the interview process and I went to work in the Arabian Desert managing 5,000 cows and 146 men.
I was a bit green behind the ears at the time but it was a learning curve.
Barkley said that the operation in the Arabian Desert has grown considerably over the years, with the farm now employing 2,750 people.
“Back in 2000 Almarai was running five farms with a total of 25,000 dairy cows and 14,000-15,000 replacement heifers on the ground based over five different farms.
“Now they are managing nearly 95,000 dairy cows and some of the super farms are up to nearly 25,000 cows,” Barkley said.
Farm facts:
- 93,711 cows
- 72,985 young stock
- 1.2m litres of milk produced annually
- 3.45% butterfat
- 13,500L rolling herd average
- 41L of milk produced/cow/day
- 2,750 farm employees
Barkley worked on one of Almarai’s operations, managing the day-to-day running of a 5,200 head dairy farm.
“If your are employed in Almarai you usually start off at the unit manager level and have a lot of staff working under you, he said.
But, he said the operation allows its employees to gain on-farm experience and training by spending time working in the parlour, with young stock and breeding.
“By the end of year two I had progressed to an assistant farm manager and I stayed at that level until I left in 2007. So I did two years training and I spent five years as an assistant farm manager,” he said.
Key milking differences on Almarai
He also discussed some of the key differences between the Saudi set up and Irish farms.
Barkley said the cows are milked four times daily, in a 75 unit rapid exit parlour, which allows 75 cows to be milked every 5-7.5 minutes.
He also said that the cows udders were cleaned in group spray pens and dried using fans prior to the start of milking, which is a little bit different to the teat dipping or wiping carried out on Irish farms.
Barkley also discussed the forage production on the farm, saying that maize and alfalfa are grown on farms over seven hours away and the feed is shipped to each individual dairy unit in containers.
Financial rewards
Barkley said that the starting off annual basic pay with Almarai is €46,500 paid tax free monthly installments.
The farm manager also said that the severance pay after year one is 5%, at the end of year two you get a further 5% and at the end of year three it jumps to 15% a year.
“At the end of year eight your can walk away with an additional year’s salary,” he said.
Barkley said that the package includes 97 days holidays and six return flights to your starting point, or somewhere else if you don’t want to come back to Ireland every time.
It’s not all rosy
However, Barkley said that financial circumstances brought him to Saudi Arabia, but the rewards came at a price.
He said that he found it difficult to find work when he moved back to Ireland, as many potential employers thought he was over qualified after his experience from work with Almarai.
He also said that the differences between the Irish grass-based and Saudi TMR system made it difficult to find work once he returned home.
Barkley said that during his seven-year stint with the operation, only his wife came to visit him is Saudi, with none of his other family members making to trip to the Middle East.
