Cumbria: Planning for the future and the next generation

Join us for the final meeting at Ninezergh Farm where Tony Evans, Andersons and Adrian Bland will discuss planning for the future and future generations.

The Bland family have been tenants at Ninezergh Farm since the 1960s. Having built up a successful business, the team are keen to look to the future.

Adrian and Tony will be exploring decisions that could help future proof the farm, strengthening the business in the short term while providing options for Adrian’s son in the future. As part of this interactive session, Tony will help you understand how to evaluate your own business and identify missed opportunities.

On the day you will:

• Have the opportunity to help build the farm of the future as Tony guides us through the hoops and pitfalls, looking at Adrian’s figures and business history to map the direction the business could take
• Visualise how new buildings can compliment existing buildings
• Learn about the fundamentals of putting together a personal business plan and making it work for your needs
• Find out how small adjustments to your own set up can help you improve efficiency

Please note children under the age of 16 and dogs are not allowed at the event, even if they are staying in the car. Click here to find out more about AHDBs health and safety guidelines for events.

About Ninezergh Farm

Based in Levens, Cumbria, the farm is split across four separate blocks with some parkland which has to be managed accordingly. Alongside the dairy herd, there are also 550 sheep and 120 beef animals from the dairy herd which they raise to 24 months old.

The herd is currently made up of 120 autumn calving crossbred cows achieving 8,000 litres of milk per cow per year milking twice per day.

About Strategic Dairy Farms

Strategic dairy farms aim to help farmers learn from each other through regular on-farm meetings where key performance data is shared and what the best farmers are doing is showcased.

They form part of the Optimal Dairy Systems programme which aims to help dairy farmers reduce costs and increase efficiency by focusing on either a tight block or all-year-round calving system.

The growing network of strategic dairy farms have calculated KPIs for their enterprises which are shared at meetings and published online. These are physical and financial performance measures that are critical to success. Farmers can benchmark their businesses against these KPIs to help identify areas for improvement.