Potstown Farm

Follow Potstown if you are interested in:

• Maximising cow and heifer performance
• Utilising home-grown forage
• Increasing longevity of your cows
• Identifying expansion opportunities

Overview

Potstown, near Lockerbie on the Scottish border, is owned and managed by brothers Gareth and David Owen, along with their father Tom.

The family first moved to the farm in 1988 and has been gradually growing the size of both the herd and the farm since. They have recently changed half the herd to Jersey and run a robotic milking system.

Our farm

The Owen family moved to Potstown in 1988, having split the herd initially run by Tom and his brother. Starting with just 90 Holsteins and 177 acres, the family have gradually been building the size of both the farm and the herd.

Today, the family farm covers over 350 acres and has recently invested in a new cubicle shed as well as two additional robots.

A full-time member of staff, Kenny, is employed and works closely with Gareth and Tom. David is also a consultant and develops the farm's business plan.

Our herd

In 2020, the family decided to change half the herd to Jersey cows, and today, cow numbers are at 260 and almost 340 followers. Yields are now at 9,000 litres at 4.80% butterfat, compared to 11,000 litres at 4.09% butterfat in the previous year.

The team are hopeful that as the jerseys move from heifers to fully grown cows, they can push this yield up slightly while maintaining a high solids percentage.

Sexed semen is used exclusively on cows and heifers, with beef semen used on 2 or 3+ service. Bull selection is done on a mainly PLI basis, although milk yield, butterfat percentage, type merit, legs and feet and fertility are used as well, along with teat length and placement for robotic milking.

Our journey

Gareth and David wanted to join the strategic dairy farm programme to help them focus on how the Jersey herd could help improve their performance and to increase their understanding of genetics and genomics.

They are looking forward to sharing their journey and learning from other farmers attending their events. They are exploring how to make the most of existing buildings for their youngstock and how they can gain the most from their assets. They are focused on maximising the potential from their infrastructure.

News and past events

• Improving herd fertility at Potstown Farm (February 2024): How Tom, Gareth and David Owen worked to improve fertility at Potstown Farm
• Strategic Dairy Farmers travel for new cohort meeting (December 2023): Strategic dairy farmers met at Dyson Farming in Lincolnshire to plan and discuss the role of a steering group, using Potstown Farm as an example
• Update on milking shed ventilation, calf housing and genomic testing (August 2023): Doreen Anderson, senior knowledge exchange manager, catches up with Gareth about what he has been up to (YouTube, 3 minutes)
• Optimising herd management with metabolic profiling (February 2023): Find out how Gareth has used metabolic profiling to find out more about the requirements of his herd
• Healthy feet in your dairy herd (December 2022): Gareth was joined by lameness expert Nick Bell to explore how to identify, treat and reduce lameness in the dairy herd
• Dairy calf health and management (February 2022): Gareth Owen talks about some new protocols that have been put in place at Potstown and what data they are collecting to underpin the best practice on farm for their calves (YouTube, 1 hour 30 minutes)
• Potstown strategic dairy farm launch (October 2021): Gareth and David Owen offer a virtual tour of their farm and provide an overview of its background, operations and the team involved (YouTube, 1 hour)

Press coverage

• British Dairying: Optimising herd genetics with data (February 2025) – Doreen Anderson and Dan Pitt worked with Potstown Farm and their Strategic Dairy Farm steering group, analysing their genetic data to set breeding goals
• Farming UK: Scottish dairy enterprise needed for Strategic Dairy Farm scheme (February 2025) – Using the example of Potstown Farm’s Strategic Dairy Farm journey, AHDB announced a new recruitment campaign in Scotland
• The Press & Journal: AHDB in call to Scotland’s dairy farmers (February 2025) – AHDB launched a new recruitment campaign in Scotland, highlighting Potstown Farm’s Strategic Dairy Farm journey as an example
• Scottish Farmer: Scottish dairy farms can now apply for AHDB’S strategy programme (February 2025) – Drawing on Potstown Farm’s Strategic Dairy Farm experience, AHDB launched a new recruitment campaign in Scotland
• British Dairying: Increasing conception rates at Potstown Farm (April 2024) – This farm has worked to address the challenges of fertility using a multi-pronged approach, seeing a 10% increase in pregnancy rate
• Scottish Farmer: Fertility improves by 10% at Potstown Farm (February 2024) – By adopting a multi-pronged approach and working with their steering group, Potstown Farm has worked on their fertility issues

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