Devon: Preparing for the challenges ahead - final strategic farm meeting - FULLY BOOKED

Join us for an on-farm event at Ditchetts Farm as they share their progress and plans for the future after three years as an AHDB strategic dairy farm.

You’ll hear how the Tucker Family are looking ahead to dairy farming post Brexit, without subsidy and where the environment and industry reputation are at the forefront.

Tony Evans of the Andersons Centre will share where the opportunities and challenges lie, and the skills required to manage a top performing business.

The meeting will cover:

• Turning challenges into opportunities as the focus of support moves towards providing public goods
• What makes a top performing business and the attributes required to lead a profitable dairy farm
• Reflections on achievements over the last 3 years as a Strategic Dairy Farm
• Workshop session to help the Tucker Family plan their next steps

Due to ongoing covid restrictions there will be NO REFRESHMENTS except bottled water. Please bring a packed lunch and drinks

To assist with biosecurity and conform to government guidelines please ensure outer clothing and vehicles are clean and that clean boots that can be disinfected are worn. Please note children under the age of 16 and dogs are not allowed at the event, even if they are staying in the car.

Health and Safety guidelines for AHDB Events

About Ditchett’s Farm
Richard Tucker, together with his parents Nigel and Brenda, runs a spring-block herd of 222 New Zealand Friesians and Friesian Jersey X’s on 182 ha at Dichetts Farm near Tiverton in Devon.

The cows have an average mature weight of around 500 kg. Annual yield per cow is 5,400 litres, with average solids of 4.61% butterfat and 3.62% protein, supplying Arla.

The grazing platform extends to 61 ha plus 20 ha for silage. A 20/40 swingover parlour was installed in 2006 with subsequent investment in cow/youngstock housing and tracks. Youngstock are reared on a second rented farm where 6.5 ha of kale are grown for outwintering. The Tuckers also produce 360 geese for the Christmas market and have 140 breeding ewes.        

The family have been long-time members of the ‘Grassmasters’ discussion group and Richard is currently Chairman of Devon NFU. 

Learn more about Ditchetts Farm

About Strategic Dairy Farms

Strategic dairy farms help farmers learn from each other through regular on-farm meetings where we share key performance data and showcase what the best farmers are doing.

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

The growing network of strategic dairy farms have calculated key performance indicators (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 and identify areas for improvement.

Explore our other strategic dairy farms