This week the West Midlands dairy board got out and about on farm with a visit to a large dairy unit.
Chairman David Brookes writes:
If you want to learn something new then quite often you have to get off your farm and visit someone else’s. This is what our group of dairy farmers did with a planned trip to the magnificent Grosvenor Farm dairy unit and inspired and impressed we certainly were.
1500 dairy cows and not a single case of mastitis for almost two weeks. In fact the part of the housing dedicated to cows with mastitis was and had been empty for days - results that many of us aspire to - just think of the saving's in medication alone.
Of course this doesn't just happen by accident. It's the direct result of strict protocols being in place and carefully managed. From the milking operation through the impressive rotary milking parlour, milking 350 cows per hour, which four men operate during each of the three milking sessions per day, resulting in over 70% of the cows’ milk being let down within the first two minutes of the milking unit being attached, from pre-milking foaming, stripping and wiping (a clean cloth for each cow) and the manual teat dipping at the end of each milking.
The bedding is sand (the only straw on the site was in the maternity unit) while the sand is recycled and all beds have at least the back ends cleaned out annually and at least quarterly for the fresh group or more if required. Fresh sand is regularly applied to ensure that adequate bedding is supplied - these also regularly raked over and levelled ensuring maximum cow comfort and very happy cows. Whilst quantities of new fresh sand are regularly brought in to both top up the recycled sand and for the benefit of the fresh calved and any unfortunate downer cows, massive savings are made from being able to recycle the used sand from the slurry and bedding - the sand recycling unit is itself an impressive operation and it has to be to work removing the majority of the coarse sand from the slurry as the liquid slurry or dirty water from the unit is pumped around the farms arable unit to help provide a massive 25% saving on fertiliser costs.
All of this has involved a massive capital investment and operating cost and it isn't just run as a rich man's folly. It has to make a return on capital of at least 10% and to do this is quite an achievement (although a retailer aligned contract for the majority of the milk sold does help).
The attention to detail is quite amazing and the management of the unit left the visitors clearly impressed at the way 'all' costs are not only scrutinised, but challenged, including any sacrificial cows or traditions for this well run commercial operation. So if you do get the opportunity to visit the Grosvenor dairy unit then spare the time to go along as you won't be disappointed.