No regrets switch to dairy despite a 10p/litre price drop
One farming family has decided to make the switch from sheep and beef to dairying. Debbie James finds out why.
Switching from beef and sheep farming to dairy production is the best decision Welsh farmer Philip Davies says he has ever made.
Having never milked a cow until the day he took delivery of his own dairy herd in 2014, and with milk prices plummeting by 10p/litre since he signed his milk contract last autumn, he insists it has been the best decision for the farm and for the future.
Previously, Mr Davies and his wife, Helen, were contract-rearing heifers before they set up their own dairy unit at 77ha Maesneuadd Farm, near Pontrobert, Powys, last year.
Although the timing could have been better – they are unwaveringly positive. In fact the only regret the Davies’ say they have is that they should have made the switch sooner. “We should have done this 10 years ago,” says Mrs Davies.
The couple took on the farm from Mr Davies’s parents six years ago when it was run as a beef and sheep enterprise. The income from the 40 Hereford-cross suckler cows and 500 ewes was insufficient to support the family so the Davies subsidised the business by working off farm – Mr Davies in a timber yard and Mrs Davies as a medical secretary.
With the single farm payment reducing annually the Davies’s knew beef and sheep production was not a viable option for the future.
See also: Beef numbers in decline in Wales
They explored opportunities for creating a business that would enable them to be at home full-time. A poultry business seemed to offer that opportunity. At that time they sold the stock and started contract rearing Jersey-cross heifers for a Shropshire dairy farmer.
It was a comment made by that farmer’s herd manager that was the catalyst to the Davies’s own dairy enterprise. “He could see we enjoyed rearing the heifers, in particular that breed of cow, so he thought we should consider going into milk production ourselves,’’ Mr Davies recalls.
“We hadn’t thought about dairying before because we didn’t think our land would suit cows, but Jersey crosses are small cows and we really like the breed.’’ The farm climbs to 23m and the rainfall average is 1,650mm.
The suggestion coincided with a lull in the poultry market and by then the plan to create a 16,000-bird unit had already been put on hold.
Although Mr Davies had no experience of dairying, Mrs Davies grew up on a dairy farm. Their sons, 17-year-old Ben, and Joss, aged 14, shared their enthusiasm. Ben was working part-time on a nearby dairy farm while studying agriculture at college.
Investment
The farm had no infrastructure for milk production, apart from a shed that had been erected for the heifer rearing enterprise, so investment was needed.
The family needed about £450,000 to set up and stock the new unit, a sum comparable to the money they would have spent on a free-range egg production business.
The Davies’ seven top tips for farmers considering setting up a new dairy unit:
- Talk to as many grass-based dairy farmers as you can to get different ideas
- Source your heifers early on to ensure choice and availability
- Keep in regular contact with your vets and feed specialist
- Involve a grass adviser and measure grass weekly
- Make sure you have family support and keep talking
- Look ahead, don’t look back
- Be positive
They had the income from the sale of their livestock and they approached their bank for a loan to fund the balance. “We drew up a detailed business plan and our bank manager was very positive,’’ says Mr Davies.
With the loan in place, they bought a second-hand 24/48 Westfalia parlour and a 10,000 litre bulk tank from a retiring dairy farmer and also created cubicle housing. Tracks were established to allow easy access to the 53ha grazing platform.
System set-up
They considered different systems but opted for spring calving. “We looked at all ideas but felt a spring calving, grazing system was the easier system and we liked the cow that went with it. And Helen liked the idea of six weeks off at Christmas,’’ says Mr Davies.
In the spring of 2014, the herd was established with heifers sourced from four farms in Ireland. The animals were inseminated with semen from Irish Friesian sires and remained in Ireland until October. “We were still rearing heifers at that time so we paid a farmer to keep our heifers for us,’’ says Mrs Davies. The 179-head herd, which included 20-second calvers, averaged £1,150 delivered.
See also: Advice on buying dairy cattle from abroad
Care was taken to ensure the animals were disease free. “Although we bought them from four different farms they stayed on the one farm for six months and they were all vaccinated for BVD, IBR and leptospirosis before they came here,’’ says Mr Davies.
The herd had time to settle at Maesneuadd before calving got under way on 1 February. It was a nail-biting time because work on the parlour was ongoing when the heifers started to calve. “We had 20 heifers going through a crush with a dump bucket,’’ Mr Davies explains.
Getting a milk contract
The farm is now in full operation with milk being sold to Arla on a manufacturing contract.
The Davies’s made sure they had a contract in place before they spent a penny on their new enterprise. Luckily, at that time Arla was recruiting spring milk producers. “We contacted the procurement officer for the area and we were lucky enough to secure a contract. It might have been a different matter if we had been doing this a few months down the line,’’ says Mr Davies.
“When we had been going on farm walks the message we were getting from other farmers was that it would be an easy enough job to get a contract, but before we started spending money on cows and infrastructure we made sure we had a buyer. It doesn’t matter if the job is on the up, you have to play it safe.’’
Yield average across the herd is 21.5 litres/day at 4.5% butterfat and 3.4% protein. Cake is fed at 2kg a head/day in the parlour, but that is likely to be reduced to 1kg when the grazing system is better established.
Grazing
In fact the most challenging aspect has been getting the grazing pattern right, admits Mr Davies. “We have only just got the paddocks up and running.” Paddocks are run in a 21-day rotation. Twenty four hectares have so far been reseeded.
See also: For online learning on grassland managment
To maximise grazing, calving will start two weeks later next year to enable the herd to go straight out to grass after calving. “1 February is too early for turnout on this farm so we are looking to calve the first cows around the middle of the month next year,’’ he adds.
Calf management
Although the Davies’ had experience of calf rearing, they were used to dealing with calves that were 12 months old when they arrived on their farm, so they had to learn how to rear calves from birth. A target weight at bulling of between 330-350kg had been their benchmark and this is still the case.
Newborn calves receive three litres of colostrum and remain with their mother for 24 hours. “This settles the heifer down. We don’t feed the calf for 12 hours when it comes off the cow and by then it takes to the teat easily,’’ Mr Davies adds.
See also: For online learning on heifer calf management
Calves are weaned at between 50 and 56 days, once they are consuming 1.5kg of meal. They are turned out to graze at 70kg and weighed every month thereafter. They are grouped according to weight.
Plans for the future
The grazing platform is stocked tightly at 3.4 cows/ha so there are no plans to expand numbers yet. “We need to get the grazing right before we grow the herd, but perhaps we will look at increasing numbers in two years’ time when we have got our own heifers coming in. A stocking rate of 3.5 cows to the hectare would be the absolute maximum,’’ says Mr Davies.