Staffordshire: Simple and effective use of organic fertilisers and nutrient management planning

Join us for this on-farm event to hear how strategic dairy farm host, Andrew Gilman of Statfold Farm, aims to use nutrient managing planning to help him make the most effective use of slurry on his silage ground with the expertise of independent consultant Chris Duller.

Using muck and slurry to your advantage can help reduce the fertiliser bill whilst continuing to grow good quality forage and reduce the bought-in feed requirements.
Minimising losses of nutrients, such as nitrates, nitrous oxide and phosphates through appropriate fertiliser, manure and slurry applications, can create a win-win situation for both farmers and for the environment.

The meeting will include an extensive farm walk with Chris Duller covering:

• Assessing soil structure
• Soil analysis
• Using muck and slurry to your advantage
• Nutrient Management Planning
• Improving grass leys

Who should attend?

Anyone who wants to improve their soils and make the most of slurry. For more information regarding the event please call Knowledge Exchange Manager, Emily Collins on 07776599778.

About Statfold Farm

Statfold Farm runs an all year round calving system. The herd is currently made up of 300 predominantly Holstein cows with Swedish red and PRO cross being introduced. Average yield is 10’000 litres with 3.9% Fat and 3.3% protein. The total area of 450 acres is made up of 70 acres permanent pasture and the rest split over grass and maize. The infrastructure includes two cubicle sheds, the older shed with 197 cubicles and the new build containing 104. Original Victorian buildings are still used along with two new open fronted sheds for rearing heifers. Cows are housed most of the year and grazed during their dry period. Cows are milked 3 times a day through a 20/20 herringbone parlour.

Sexed Semen is used for replacements with the rest to beef. Breeding decisions are data driven using milk quality and serves per conception as the current main drivers. Andrew supplies milk to Arla on a liquid contract aligned with Asda.

The extended farm team includes Andrew’s father, Herdsman Andy, Assistant Herdsman Keiran and general farm working Nigel with two other self employed workers who will do night time milking.

Follow their story by visiting www.ahdb.org.uk/farm-excellence/The-Farm or get the latest updates by searching for #SDFTheFarm on Twitter.

About Strategic Dairy Farms

Strategic dairy farms aim to help farmers learn from each other through regular on-farm meetings where we will 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 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.

Follow the programme and find other local SDFs