Farmer Focus: Yield up 6 litres with 365-day housing

We’ve worked towards housing the cows all year round for a number of years, and after completing the cubicle shed last autumn, we have done just that.

From a production point of view, we are 6 litres a cow a day up on last year to 38 litres a cow, with similar quality.

Although (like many) I like to see the cows outside, our entire routine works better with them inside and at the level of production we have now got to, it’s the only way to cater for their needs.

See also: 6 ways to check feed intakes for high-yielding cows

About the author

Tom Stable

Tom Stable and family, Ulverston, Cumbria, milk 300 Holsteins twice a day, producing milk for Arla and ice cream for their Cumbrian Cow brand. The 215ha operation, of which half is rented, grows grass, maize, and winter wheat. Cows average 10,800 litres.

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Where they traditionally grazed isn’t suitable to mow, so we have turned out slightly more youngstock, kept 40 beef stores and reduced fertiliser use on the grazing ground to keep on top of the grass.

It will take a full year to really assess the financial impact, with milk quality, seasonality, and fixed costs all playing their part, but it seems to be working so far.

We took delivery of a fresh tractor at the start of June, we try to replace the main machines every five years and keep them under warranty.

The Claas tractors have proved very reliable and the service from Rickerbys has been second to none, so after a bit of pricing we went for another.

This is the first year where we are not undertaking a large building project, which is allowing us to get through some of the jobs that have been on the list for a while.

One of these includes creating a new entrance and roadway into the bottom side of the farm.

Our lane is narrow and tight and this should reduce the congestion we create on the lane and the impact on our neighbours.

Cumbrian Cow (my parents’ ice cream shop) is in full swing yet again, with the drive-through and shop both proving equally popular.

The distance people will travel for ice cream never fails to amaze me (Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle).

Anna and I have cut the maize maze, a job we streamline every year. The first year it took nearly two weeks, now it’s a little over two days.

The crop was planted almost three weeks later than in previous years, but should be tall enough to open in mid-July.