Strategic Dairy Farm Launch: Dorset

Join us on Thursday January 30 at Perry Farm in Dorset for the launch of our latest strategic farm run by Kenton Bennett and his partner Charlotte Wallbridge.

Kenton and Charlotte will provide an overview of the farm’s history, share their experiences of transitioning to Autumn Block Calving and their aims and objectives for the next three years.  

A true family farm, Kenton and Charlotte have taken over the reins from Kenton’s parents and have made significant investment in cow accommodation using Cow Signals as the foundation for the design. They both have a passion for exemplary cow health and welfare which is evident in the health status of the youngstock and milking herd.

Over the next three years they will look to reduce their block calving period from 15 to 8 weeks and work on improving grazing utilisation, both with the aim of increasing profit. They also wish to build a team that will lead to at least two days off per week enabling Kenton and Charlotte to spend more time with their children.

At this launch we will cover:

• An introduction to the background to the farm including a short 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 practical steps they took to change from all-year round calving to autumn block and what factors contribute to their current performance
• The long-term vision for the farm, including a critical look at areas for improvement and future focus

Who should attend? Anyone who is autumn block calving, thinking of changing to this system or interested in benchmarking their business.  

Booking Details

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

For more information, please contact Becky Miles, AHDB on 07500 873258.

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

Please wear clean disinfectable boots

 About Perry Farm

Perry Farm’s herd consists of 200 Holstein cows crossed to Danish Red and Ayrshire yielding 8,500 litres. All heifer calves are reared as replacements in house and the beef crosses are sold at 2-3 weeks. Perry farm is 144 Ha owned by the Bennetts, consisting of 121 Ha of grass (mixed permanent pasture and rotational) and 23 Ha of cereals which is used to provide wholecrop, grain and straw for both the dairy and youngstock enterprises. Further straw is brought in from a local arable farm in a muck for straw agreement.

The farm is owned by Clem and Yvonne Bennett and is managed day to day by Kenton and Charlotte with Kenton’s brother, Simon, providing his services as an accountant as Kenton has an aversion to data! They staff also consists of one apprentice, one livestock person, a relief who has been with them 20 years and weekend support.

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

Over the next 3 years as a Strategic Dairy Farm Kenton and Charlotte aims are to improve their profits without compromising their herd’s excellent health and welfare (currently 90% herd on SDCT and average age at culling is 6^th lactation).

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