Bridge Farm

Follow our journey if you are interested in:

• Autumn block calving
• Incorporating a newly purchased farm into an existing system
• Finding out more about round-house structures
• Improving heifer rearing
• Improving your herd fertility
• Getting the most from grass
• Successful succession planning
• Improving farm infrastructure

Overview

Bridge Farm is owned and operated by David and Lene Cotton in partnership with David's parents. The herd manager, Steve Crowther has been employed for 9 years and Chris Glass, with the business for 18 years, is a general farm worker shared between the dairy business and a friend's arable business.

Our farm

Based near Glastonbury, Somerset, Bridge farm is 236Ha, of which 193Ha are owned and 43Ha are tenanted. The farm consists of 200Ha of grass (mixed permanent pasture and rotational) and 24Ha of Winter Wheat which is used to provide feed and straw for both the dairy and beef enterprises. Other enterprises include a campsite and office buildings rented out.

Our herd

The herd is currently made up of 280 pedigree Holstein Friesian, autumn calving cows. Achieving 7,932 litres of milk per cow per year with 4.3% fat and 3.47% protein mix, milking twice per day and grazing from April through to October. All replacements are reared at home with an average age at first calving of 25 months.

Our journey

Our journey has seen an increased focus on fertility since becoming an autumn block calving herd. The neighbouring farm, purchased in 2016, has allowed the opportunity for expansion. The efficient integration of the two operations will be the major area of focus for the next three years. Development of staff and training is a passion for David which he hopes to continue to build on.

Our key performance figures

Bridge Farm openly share their KPIs so you can see how they perform against a number or technical and financial measures.

• Review Bridge Farm's key performance indicators

Past events and updates

• December 2019 Bridge Farm strategic farm launch -  David Cotton is joined by supporting consultant Charlie King at the launch of Bridge Farm in Somerset
• Feeding soil for productivity and health podcast - Join David and soil expert Mark Tripney from ISoils for this podcast around driving performance through soil health

• October 2020 Selecting bulls for a better block - A focus on breeding at Bridge Farm helped them move into the top 5% of autumn block herds ranked by genetic merit.

• Reaching your herd’s full potential - David Cotton explains how he achieves an impressive herd replacement rate of 19%, placing him the top 5% of performers.
• Succession planning for the family dairy farm - Join David to find out more about what to consider when succession planning before retirement or handing over the running of your business to the next generation.
• July 2023 Webinar on reducing carbon footprint on a dairy farm – Find out how David has reduced the farm's carbon footprint while developing a profitable business. 

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