His Majesty the King on Monday revisited the royally initiated Chang Hua Man Project in Tha Yang district of Phetchaburi province to observe the progress of the dairy farm.
The visit to the project was the King’s fourth time in seven months after he left Siriraj hospital to stay at Klai Kangwon palace in Hua Hin since August last year.
The King focused his visit on the demonstration barn where milk cows are raised at the royal initiative as a way to promote dairy farming among local farmers. The farm now has 29 cows including nine Holstein Friesians under milking, 10 pregnant cows and 10 teenage cows.
His Majesty fed milk to a 2-month-old calf and visited a 4-month-old male calf which was royally named on its birth as Nong Tum. The calf now weighs 120 kilograms and in good health.
The King then proceeded to a milking parlor where milk is taken twice a day to produce about 150 kilograms of raw milk to be supplied to the Cha-am dairy cooperative in Phetchaburi province for processing.
The royally initiated Chang Hua Man project is an experimental land plot for planting economic crops, to support farmers in Phetchaburi and nearby provinces. The dairy farming was added to the Project in 2010 using 14 cows retired from the royal project at Chitralada Palace in Bangkok. Each time His Majesty visited this dairy farm, he paid attention to the health of the cattle and the importance of grass used in feeding them. The project has therefore chosen the high-protein pangola pasture grass in response to the royal advice and leaves the cattle to eat fresh grass freely in the field.
His Majesty has already visited the Chang Hua Man project four times since he moved from Siriraj hospital to stay at Klai Kangwon Palace in Prachuap Khiri Khan rovince in August 1 last year.