"I am very lucky at home, I have something that many unfortunately don't have and that is enthusiastic children. At least two and maybe three of my children want to be, or become involved with the farm. My son is currently working at home (in between taking harvest jobs to help supplement his depleted finances due to a lack pay at home!) and my middle daughter, who has just completed her dairy course at Reaseheath College, is desperately keen to help move the business on. Many dairy farmers aren't so lucky and with domestic skilled labour being a rare commodity and migrant labour not as plentiful, many are turning to robotics and automation."
"Innovation within the dairy sector is nothing new, I installed an automated milking parlour a number of years ago, but this has started to become a nightmare to maintain. The Company went bankrupt and it's become increasingly difficult to find good reputable and reliable dairy engineers who are willing to maintain this equipment. That shouldn't and won't put my family off this type of equipment, if it's affordable. Whilst admitting keeping it simple and basic has it's merits, they are nothing if you can't recruit the staff with the necessary skills."
"I am inspired by the new 36 stall rotary installation at Micheal Eavis's Farm at Glastonbury, which fully automatically milks his cows allowing the cowman to attend to his stock rather than spend his time preparing and milking them. Whilst this is a fantastic innovation, it requires considerable financial commitment, of which presently many dairy farmers do not have!"
"Innovation and future research into dairy production is vital for our sector's future, especially following Brexit. Whether it's innovation in equipment, or improvements to genetics, in the UK we not only have to catch up with our neighbouring competitors but need to be able to leapfrog them to stay ahead in the marketplace. That's why innovation and research are featuring prominently in the National Dairy Board's activities and feature on our agenda next week. We, as farmers need to be assured that our policy makers, not just within our industry but our politicians, are able to quickly adapt to the changing and challenging times that may lie ahead and to be able to help us to deliver a sustainable future for the dairy industry."