Shropshire Farming Talk: AHDB focus on Bentley Ford Farm

It’s home to 210, fully housed, pedigree Holsteins, on an all-year-round calving system.

The cows are averaging 10,000 litres, with 3,800 litres from forage, at 4.0 per cent fat and 3.3 per cent protein.

Bentley Ford Farm comprises 148 ha, used to grow maize and silage.

The Higgins family joined AHDB’s Strategic Dairy Farm programme last year.

After they applied to join the programme, various inspections took place, and the team analysed their strengths and weaknesses.

They talked through threats and opportunities with me as their Knowledge Exchange Manager.

Cheryl said: “During our time on the Strategic Dairy Farm programme, we want to continue working on what we’re already doing, looking at some infrastructure changes and continue to maximise milk from forage. We are looking forward to getting support from farmers, through a steering group and hosting meetings.’’

David added: “Last winter, we built a new shed for the calving cows, and we renovated an existing shed to add cubicles and allow for a Lely robotic scraper. In our other shed, for milkers, we have an automatic scraper system, but it splashed muck onto the beds, so we thought we’d try something different. It’s working really well, and our cows seem to have settled into both the new and the renovated sheds.”

If you would like to follow Bentley Ford Farm’s journey towards increasing feed efficiency and developing the farm further, you can join David, Cheryl and Robert for their official Strategic Dairy Farm launch on March 21.

To get involved with the Strategic Dairy Farm programme, visit ahdb.org.uk/events or follow AHDB Dairy on Instagram, X or Facebook.

by Jess White, Knowledge Exchange Manager, AHDB