The right system, the right life: Finding the right grazing and calving system

System changes often come with significant costs and do not always deliver clear benefits for herd performance. However, taking the time to reflect on whether your current approach aligns with what matters most to you – whether that is profitability, time with family, environmental stewardship, or reduced stress – can lead to more informed, confident decisions.

Evaluating whether your grazing and calving systems are supporting your lifestyle and priorities can be challenging. With the right planning, it is possible to transition towards systems that not only work for your herd but also for your lifestyle.

Case study: Moorhouse Hall Farm, Cumbria

Originally tenant farmers in Lancashire, the Bailey family purchased Moorhouse Hall Farm in 2022. Since then, they have been exploring ways to adapt their grazing and calving systems to optimise cow performance to better suit their lifestyle.

Kate and John are planning for a future with fewer hours on the farm as they move toward part-retirement. Their son, Chris, works part-time as a vet and has a young family, and his wife Helen is also a vet.

Together, they need a system that continues to deliver strong herd performance while fitting around busy personal lives.

Chris said:

“We’re currently managing the farm between myself, my parents and my wife. We calve in blocks throughout the year, mainly during the summer months.

"The cows are allowed to loaf outdoors, and we aim for five cuts of silage each year. Right now, we usually finish milking around 6:00pm or later, but with a young family, I’d really like to finish earlier. We’ve never employed staff, and ideally, we’d like to keep it that way.”

John added:

“Maximising what we already have and improving efficiency is our main goal. That way, we can free up more time for family. We believe that reviewing our current grazing and calving systems is key to achieving that.”

In 2023, the Bailey family joined our Strategic Dairy Farm programme. As part of this, they have been working with Owen Atkinson from Dairy Veterinary Consultancy and their farm’s steering group to evaluate their current systems and to explore how to get more from their land and livestock.

Owen outlined several potential options for the Baileys’ future system:

1. Transition to an autumn block-calving herd with a greater reliance on grazing.
2. Install a robotic milking system and house cows all year round, using land primarily for high-quality silage.
3. Continue with their current approach – calving in seasonal blocks throughout the year, with some grazing but primarily focusing on silage.

Owen added:

“Their current cost of production (CFP) is around 43ppl, in part due to high finance costs. Ideally, a higher overall milk output would dilute these fixed overheads.

"But the farm is limited in its ability to significantly expand the cow numbers quickly due to the policy of home-producing replacements. The size of the grazing platform around the main farm is also limiting to accommodate a much larger autumn-block system.

"So, an alternative is to have a more modest herd expansion while also increasing yields per cow, supported by sourcing more forage from land further afield. One proposal would involve installing a robotic milking system and expanding the herd to 170 cows, which could dilute their fixed overheads by 2.7ppl, even accounting for the extra borrowing required.

"This set-up could still include partial grazing for at least four months of the year, for four hours a day using strip grazing. The cows would be capable of producing approximately 11,500 litres per year each due to increased milking frequency.

"This could entail an estimated £405,000 capital investment – equivalent to an added 1.7ppl at 8% interest, but overall a more healthy retained profit through diluting some of the other costs.”

Chris explained:

“We’d love to put in robots – it would give us more time with our families. But the idea of taking on that level of debt is daunting, especially because we are still paying off the mortgage on Moorhouse Hall Farm.

"For now, we will focus on improving our grazing management, and maybe one day we will put in a robotic milking system.”

If the Baileys decided to shift to an autumn-block-calving system, they would need to tighten their calving window and potentially sell cows that do not fit the block.

While they would prefer to retain every animal, they recognise the potential benefits of paddock grazing – not only in reducing cost per litre but also in freeing up capital to pay off their mortgage sooner.