Farm: “I farm 80 cows and 25 replacements on 50ha, 41 of which are owned. The land is dry for our area.”
Calving: “We operate a spring-calving herd and started calving on 7 February. We are nearly finished and have 10 left. The cows are Holstein Friesian and high EBI. All cows are artificially inseminated with sexed semen for the first two weeks of the breeding season and then let out with a Hereford and Angus bull.”
Grazing: ”We got lucky and have slurry and fertiliser out on our grazing and silage platforms. The grazing platform is 70% grazed. We have the cows out for two- to three-hour grazings. We’re happy with the regrowth, ground is holding well, but it’s tricky and we have to be careful that the land doesn’t get poached.”
Silage: “Last year we reseeded 11ac and got caught badly with the dry spell of weather. We missed our first cut of silage so we have been buying fodder since last November.”
Multispecies swards: “We sowed 4ha of MSS in June 2022, and are hoping to do another four to five hectares this year. We haven’t had any bloat issues, possibly because we are clover-based since 2018 and the cows have adjusted to it already. The cows love the MSS, they pick up the pace when the MSS field is open, there have been days they don’t want to come in from the field. There is no problem grazing it out and it can be grazed at a high cover, it doesn’t suppress solids.”
Children: “I have two kids, a four-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. They’re in the parlour and out on the farm with us at the weekends and during the holidays. It’s great that they are here and learning. It helps them understand that you have to look after nature. It’s a natural conversation we have here. We are very much about reducing chemicals and looking after the environment. Please God, when the time comes for them, it’ll still be a sustainable farm.”
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