Dairy Farmer

Kathryn Rowland has been at Kingshay for 20 years and originally hails from a dairy farming family. Heading up Kingshay’s farm services team, she has overseen the recent publication of the 11th edition of the annual Dairy Costings Focus Report.

Managing the farm’s accounts is likely to be one of the most important tasks a dairy farmer can do this year as farms look set to lurch from profits to loss. Cedric Porter reports

Using technology to produce silage more efficiently and sustainably is paying off both financially and environmentally for one Yorkshire farm. Dairy Farmer reports.

A computer program is being used to fine-tune concentrate feed levels in Russell Boyce’s robotic milking system. It has cut usage by about 9%, without affecting the performance of the high-yielding herd. Wendy Short reports.

Monitoring dry cow condition will be particularly important this year with farmers looking to make more use of grazing. Dairy Farmer reports.

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.