Cope, Bawhill Farm, Market Drayton
The Copes are a hard-working, highly successful specialist dairy farming family. Up until 2004, they had been milking around 260 cows, rearing their own youngstock. It was becoming clear from issues with cell count, cow longevity and work efficiency that the unit needed to develop from the outdated and inappropriate cow set up into something better.
In 2004 an opportunity came to sell some traditional buildings for residential development which would enable a green-field site development elsewhere on the farm. Labour efficiency, cow health and comfort became the key drivers behind the development of a 650 cow herd that would be housed most of the year.
Kite Consulting’s involvement
The Cope family have benefitted from the financial and technical advice that Kite have offered since Kite’s inception in 2000. In the planning phase of the “big plan”, a great deal of work was done in 2004, preparing budgets and ensuring that the business set off on the right course. During the development and transition phase, Kite kept a close eye on the business progress, advising and helping to keep things on course while numerous challenges reared their heads.
Kite Consulting are an important part of the team at Bawhill Farm. Regular business meetings are an opportunity to discuss and assess future development and checking that current business performance is running to plan. Technical advice tied in with the herdsman and vet are a regular feature that helps to draw all parts of the team together with a common purpose. Kite are responsible for preparing the rations for the herd with a special focus on launching profitable lactations through good dry cow management practices.
Intelligent investment
Some areas of investment that have been a great success in the drive for labour and cow productivity have been:
• Highly ventilated, comfortable sheds
• Floodwash system
• Rotary parlour 60 point
• ADF – auto dipping and cluster backflush
• VINK footbathing system
• Computerised calf feeding machines
• Contract off-farm youngstock rearing
The future
The team is strongly focussed on increasing profit through improved yield, health and fertility status. An activity monitoring heat detection system is presently being considered as an investment that should have very rapid pay-back and excellent long term positive effects on labour efficiency and profit.