Understanding your data to make better strategic decisions

At Sychpant, one of our Strategic Dairy Farms, data isn’t just something that’s collected; it’s used to shape the future of the business. With input costs remaining high, farmers Marcus and Vicki Ferraro are using performance figures to make confident, informed decisions, working towards long-term profitability and business expansion.

Working closely with farm consultant Anna Bowen, the Ferraros have begun to understand their cost of production and business performance.

This created a picture of their operation, allowing them to plan strategically around their feed costs budget and fertility performance and identify underperforming cows.

Marcus said:

“At Sychpant, we track annual Comparable Farm Profit (CFP), monitor monthly milk and feed against budget, measure grass with a plate meter, and use AgriNet to get business insights.”

When they considered investing in new sheds, the data they gathered with Anna helped them make better-informed choices.

They started recording cow health using Uniform, monitoring milk quality through testing and recording milk samples, and tracking fertility KPIs, as well as mobility scoring.

Keeping accurate animal health data allows Marcus and Vicki to pinpoint areas for improvement and identify the profitable cows within their herd.

Anna says:

“What gets measured gets managed. Our goal is to use individual-level data, especially for heifers, to improve retention and help them meet target weights at key stages.”

In autumn block systems like Sychpant, the main drivers of profitability include:

• Fertility
• Forage quality and utilisation
• People management
• Milk quality
• Capital efficiency

Anna explains that knowing the profit per cow helps a farmer benchmark their performance against others and track farm business progress.

Benchmarking Sychpant’s data with Anna revealed some areas of above-average spending.

In 2024, the farm spent more than the average autumn block farm on concentrates and more than the top 25% on total purchased feed, concentrates and veterinary medicines.

One priority area is improving forage and milk yields from forage. For the year ending March 2025, milk from forage rose to 2,814 litres, up from 2,023 litres the previous August, thanks to targeted grazing and silage strategies.

Marcus explains what they have already been doing to improve their forage – mapping paddocks, cutting feed rates, upgrading silage clamps, and increasing winter feed space:

“There’s still room for improvement, and we’re focused on continuing to raise our milk from forage.

“We are a work in progress, but understanding our data is helping us improve the farm and grow what once was a small dairy into a bigger business.”

Another focus is identifying ‘passenger cows’ – those with lower returns.

Anna explains that recognising these animals will help Marcus and Vicki improve their herd efficiency, and by continuing to breed from top AI bulls, the Ferraros will naturally continue working towards increasing their herd’s productivity.

Starting with the fundamentals is key for every farm business.

Anna said:

“The basics include ensuring calves receive high-quality colostrum quickly, checking and correcting soil pH, and reviewing monthly management accounts.”

With clearer goals for tighter cost control, smarter breeding, and better forage use, Sychpant serves as a model for farms wanting to continually improve and adapt to thrive in today’s challenging environment.

Over their three-year journey as an AHDB Strategic Dairy Farm, Marcus and Vicki would like to work on cow health and forage performance to drive efficiency and profitability.

If you would like to find out more about setting KPIs and understanding your data, Anna co-authored a report, commissioned by AHDB, in partnership with Andersons, on the characteristics of the top-performing farms.