November milk prices falling through the floor Retail aligned liquid contracts saw mixed movements in November. Muller Co-op Dairy Group made a positive price announcement of 0.84ppl after holding steady for the last three months. Tesco announced a price cut of 0.11ppl, though there was no change in price for the previous month. M&S held […]
Author Archives: Ben Whibley
Tri-Cross Dairy was built eight years ago on a 32-ha greenfield site in South Dakota. British Dairying took a tour of the state-of-the-art 5,200-cow unit. Established by Californian dairymen Tom Koolhaas and his brother-in-law Wes Bylsma, Tri-Cross Dairy was born out of the challenges facing the dairy industry in California, where expansion is near-impossible. Lured […]
Dairy ‘fuelling performance for a new generation,’ Dairy Sector Director at AHDB Paul Flanagan tells us what makes this campaign a winning formula. AHDB exists to add value for our levy payers and we do this by undertaking activities that individual farmers cannot do themselves. One of the ways we do this is through our […]
Building and Environmental Systems: Heating, Lighting, Ventilation, Flooring, Monitoring Systems, Pens, Construction
Cornwall building update | Cost-effective investment revitalises cow accommodation
David, Jonathan and Toby Berridge with herdsman Richard Jones Making some simple improvements to existing buildings and facilities have proved a cost-effective investment on one Cornish dairy unit. Mike Green reports. Continued investment in cow housing — much at low cost — has made big improvements to the management and environment of Jonathan Berridge’s dairy […]
Feed & Nutrition: Maize, Forage, Grassland, Nutrition, Vitality
Prioritising grass nutrition and soil health optimises milk yield
High fertiliser prices and a focus on soil health have encouraged one family in Wiltshireto look at alternative crop nutrition – with great results. British Dairying reports. hen it comes to grassland management, many dairy farmers are asking the same ques- tion: How can I maximise my foragequality for the year ahead? Wiltshire-based mixed farmers,Chris […]
Nearly all cows can be milked by robot, but there is still room to tweak genetics to getbetter performance from them in a robotic system. British Dairying reports. Typically, less than 1% of cows cannot be milked through robots when moving from a conventional milking system. However, improv- ing certain traits to fine-tune milk- ing […]
In this month’s column, Alistair Logan looks ahead to silaging and how he’s making the most of the local climate with renewable energy. He’s also busy preparing for the NMR/RABDF Gold Cup open day, while in the midst of lambing and building work. hen I hoped last month that the weather would improve by the […]
Nothing stands still in farming, and there’s plenty afoot at Holehouse Farm as the Logan family prepare, firstly, for spring, and, secondly, for the NMR RABDF Gold Cup open day. British Dairying welcomes Alistair Logan as he writes his first column. hen I sat down to start think- ing about writing a diary piece for […]
Feed & Nutrition: Maize, Forage, Grassland, Nutrition, Vitality
Focus on heifer nutrition to improve profitability and sustainability
Dairy farmers are being encouraged to treat heifers like cows and improve rationing to achieve target weights for 24-month calving. We should be spending much more time rationing heifers, as well as focussing on the cows,” advises Mole Valley Senior Nutritionist Dr Robin Hawkey. “We are using the best genetics on heifers but are we […]
A new study has identified the key areas where farmers can get the best out of their calves during the crucial first few months of life. Information on the current approaches to calf rearing was captured and analysed from 60 dairy farms across GB by Dr Robert Hyde who undertook the work as part of […]
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