Dairy Farmer

By automating processes and improving accuracy of data, new 3D camera technology is helping improve welfare and management. Dairy Farmer reports.

Fraser Jones milks 1,450 Holstein Friesians and employs 37 people across three sites near Welshpool. Herd health, sustainability and welfare are key priorities for Fraser, who is a Disease? Not On My Farm! ambassador for MSD Animal Health.

Being aware of the factors influencing puberty and how a heifer’s oestrus cycle works is key to successful heifer fertility, explains Jenny Bellini and Rob Hall, of LLM Farm Vets. Katie Fallon reports.

Dan Burdett and his family own and run the 300-hectare (741-acre) Cockhaise Farm, near Haywards Heath, West Sussex. The farm is home to an organic autumn-calving herd of 240 Holstein and Friesian crosses. He also contract farms another organic autumn-calving herd of 220 cows at Bore Place near Edenbridge, Kent.

It is the simple system at Nerewater Farm which has allowed Richard Bell to lead the national British Friesian rankings in the National Milk Records’ annual production report for the last five years. Katie Fallon reports.

A Ukrainian dairy farmer has vowed to rebuild his business after Russian soldiers killed 110 of his animals and damaged his farm near Chernihiv. Chris McCullough reports.

Becky Fenton and husband Paul milk 180 pedigree Holsteins under the Springlebee prefix at Centenary Farm, a Cheshire county council farm. In 2021, they bought a farm in Staffordshire and they plan to farm there once the new dairy set-up has been built.

Higher milk yields have led to a gradual increase in twin pregnancies among UK dairy herds. Andy Hayton, of Sandstone Vets Group, explains the associated risks and how twin pregnancies can be managed for better results post-calving. Katie Fallon reports.

A Somerset milk producer believed his closed herd was protected from BVD, until an abortion storm prompted him to call in his vet to investigate. Wendy Short reports.

Claire Eastham farms with her husband Martyn in Dorset, where they milk 120-spring calving cows. After gaining knowledge and experience working for other businesses, the couple started their own dairy farming journey in 2015 by taking on a share farming agreement before progressing to their current county council farm.