FW Awards 2011: Young farmer of the Year finalist – James Down
James Down
Park Farm, Curry Mallet, Somerset
While the Olympics might be coming to London next year, the games have already arrived at James Down’s Somerset farm.
Always looking for inventive ways to overcome problems on his family’s 365ha tenanted dairy, beef, arable and sheep enterprise, Mr Down’s approached a local scrap concrete merchant when he was looking to develop a new silage pit.
He came away with panels that had been destined to become stadium seating at the Olympic site in east London and turned them into walls to create a high-quality pit at a low price.
“All the panels were free, I just paid the transport costs and poured the concrete floor,” he says.
“Total costs came to about £30,000, so it was a bargain really. I love coming up with solutions to things, creating bits of machinery or designing farm buildings.”
Mr Down’s love for designing things has led him to coming up with the designs for the farm’s new dairy, which will allow him to expand his current 200-head herd of Friesian Holsteins to 250.
“I’m optimistic about the future of dairying, so it is worth investing. I have put in as much automation as possible because I’m determined to keep things simple and keep it to a one-man milking system.
“I don’t see a place for 500-cow dairy herds. There are arguments about economies of scale, but I think you always need a man to 1m litres, which is what I have.
“I have a full-time milker, another full-time worker and two relief staff who are all trained to be able to do all the jobs on the farm and that’s the simple system I am trying to keep to.”
Since taking over the family farm in 2003, after his father suffered a serious accident, he has worked towards finding ways to expand the business while making it less complex.
Often taking bold decisions, the new parlour has seen him invest £150,000, helped out by a £60,000 investment from his Duchy Estates landlord.
He decided to stop breeding replacement heifers, deciding instead to buy in genetics so he could improve his herd quality faster.
As stock numbers increased he also decided to finish beef cattle at 24 months instead of 30, securing him a return of £250 for each of the 150 cows he sells deadweight each year.
The herd’s milk is sold to Tesco on a year-round, 4,500 litres/day flat profile, guaranteeing him a price that covers the cost of production and introducing him to a system which has really pushed him to reach higher standards.
Mr Down also decided to reduce the farm’s flock of Poll Dorset sheep from 380 to 100 after two harsh winters left him with reduced grass stocks and simplified his cropping system.
He now concentrates on growing 250 acres of wheat, much of which he sells forward, securing £154/t for his 2012 crop.
He also produces 50 acres of barley, plus 200 acres of grass and maize as break crops and as feed for the cattle, helping him drive down feed costs.
It’s a move that seems to have worked, as he has increased profits to almost 30% of his turnover, allowing him to make investments without the need to take out additional bank loans.
“I’ve been really lucky that I have come into a great business that has never made a loss in its 30-year history, but being handed the reins so early on I have really been able to change the direction we were heading through greater efficiencies,” he says.
“We have four separate enterprises, but I try to keep things very simple and do things in-house – I’m happy to have a go at anything on the farm.
“I want to get this farm simple to manage and running efficiently and then look at expanding and spending more time on other units. I really would like to farm in a big way.”
The judges liked:
His passion for hands-on farming
Inventiveness to overcome problems
Efforts to simplify the business
Farm facts:
Taunton, Somerset
Farm size: 365ha
Dairy, arable, beef and sheep farm