Strategic Dairy Farm Launch: Cumbria

Join us for the launch of our latest strategic dairy farm run by Adrian Bland who will guide us through the farms story, his decision to transition to autumn block calving and his ambitions for the next three years.  

Adrian’s management of the farm is undertaken with a careful, forward thinking approach, incorporating new techniques and best practices that ensure the simple things are done well. He and his team are constantly learning and relentless in minimising waste on the farm.

At the meeting you will get:

• An introduction to the background to the farm including a farm tour
• An overview of their current technical and financial performance against AHDB’s Optimal Dairy Systems defined KPI’s for autumn block calving herds
• The decision to be autumn block calving and what factors contribute to the current performance
• The long-term vision for the farm, including a critical look at areas for improvement and future focus

Address:       J36 Rural Auction Centre, Crooklands, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7FP (SatNav LA7 7NU) and then Ninezergh Farm, Levens, Cumbria, LA8 0PA.

To book your FREE place contact the AHDB KE Events Hub on 01904 771216 or ke.events@ahdb.org.uk.

If you have any special dietary requirements, please contact us as soon as possible.

Please bring clean shoes to wear in the Auction Centre as well as warm clothes and clean disinfectable boots for the farm walk.

For more information regarding the event please call James Hague AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager on 07792 289386

 About Ninezergh Farm

The business is structured as a family partnership holding the tenancy, employing two full time staff.

The farm extends to 250ha, which currently supports a dairy herd of 120 cows yielding 8,000 litres and approximately 80 replacement heifers. Other livestock include a flock of 550 sheep and approximately 120 beef animals from the dairy herd reared to around 24 months.

Cropping is mainly forage crops of grass and maize.

Cows are summer grazed, calve in an autumn block between mid-August and late-October and are milked twice a day. They operate a four-way breeding programme, split equally between dairy and beef, that results in saleable stock from the herd.

The aim of the business is to maintain a sustainable business whilst enjoying the job and having time to enjoy off the farm.

The business scores well against the AHDB key performance indicators for autumn block calving.

Over the next three years Adrian will continue to maximise production by utilising the four separate plots that divide the farm in the most efficient way possible. Adrian is passionate about bringing farmers together to learn from each other and is particularly interested in 

stimulating debate and feedback at forthcoming farm events. They will continue to ensure all business decisions have a positive impact on the overall profitability of the business.

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 at www.dairy.ahdb.org.uk/ strategic-dairy-farm 

 If you no longer wish to receive this information, please email comms@ahdb.org.uk