Milk is big business for Gloucestershire-based Hartpury College – a college which majors in providing education and training to the land based animal science and sports sectors.

With a herd of 450 cows housed, fed and milked in the very centre of the college farm’s educational activities there is perhaps, a greater emphasis on getting the job right than for dairy herds based say, in less exposed situations.

Tasked with ensuring the successful running of the farm is Peter Lord, who points out that some of the college’s activities do tend to dictate how the herd is managed.

"I have to accept that while the farm is very much a commercial operation, Hartpury College does have as its main agenda, the education of its students," he explains. "On the plus side though, having so many people around the place does keep us on our toes in respect of the way we do things around the farm."

And it would appear that in the two years Mr Lord has been at the helm, there have been some marked improvements in herd performance.

"When I arrived, the herd average was running at about 6600 litres which was a little on the low side for a modern herd," he explains. "But to be fair, following the completion of a new green field site dairy unit in 2003, the herd had expanded from 120 to 350 cows which meant there were a high percentage of new unknown cows bought in from many different herds."

In the last two years herd size has continued to expand to its 450 cows through the policy of retaining all heifer calves as followers and buying in many cows, some of which came from France. There are now 400 cows in milk and the herd average milk yield is at 8600 litres – and climbing.

With limited ground available in the immediate vicinity of the farm the cows are permanently housed and are fed on a TMR system with no additional parlour feeding.

"The fields we have are too far off to be available for grazing by the cows," explains Mr Lord. "Instead, we use this land to grow the 130ha of forage maize and 135ha of grass silage we need. For the first time this year, we also plan to have some whole crop wheat."

A key part of a TMR regime is, of course, the diet feeder – the machine whose ability to mix rations can spell success or failure, and varying degrees in between.

"Having a diet feeder that can mix accurately and produce a feed with that important fibrous texture is absolutely crucial," he says. "You can supply all the ingredients but if they are not mixed well, the cows will not be able to fully utilise them and performance will suffer as a result."

September 2006 saw the arrival of a new Shelbourne Reynolds 22cu m, twin vertical auger Powermix diet feeder as a replacement for a horizontal auger mixer that, according to Mr Lord, produced a ‘mushy’ feed that was unevenly mixed and, as a result, failed to serve the cows well.

Since the day it was delivered, the Powermix has been worked continuously with no respite from a daily feeding regime that requires five different rations to be mixed and fed out.

"We split the herd up into four groups – five if you count the dry cows – and each gets a different ration," he explains. "The four groups start with what we call the ‘fresh’ – the fresh calvers – which are fed for 38 litres and are also on adlib hay. Then comes the ‘high’ group which are probably at the peak of their lactation and receive a ration for 42 litres and these are followed by the ‘mid’ and ‘low’ groups that receive rations for 28 litres and 19 litres, respectively."

Forming the basis of the rations is maize and grass silage to which pre-chopped straw, molasses, protein blend, crimped maize and minerals is added.

"The Powermix is quite capable of processing big bales of hay, silage or straw but having straw pre-chopped does speed up the job," he says. "We try and mix quickly and ensure we achieve that fibrous texture. A full, 22 cu m mix, once everything is on board takes no more than five minutes to mix, the twin augers lifting, mixing and chopping efficiently against the fixed blades."

Despite its large capacity, the Powermix has proved to be a reasonably agile machine when manoeuvring around buildings and along feed passages. Its ability to feed out both to the left and to the right of the machine is also appreciated.

"The feed out is really superb," insists Mr Lord. "Not only does the feed conveyor allow either side feeding, the conveyor lifts as it is extended to enable feed to be placed over barriers or in troughs."

As ever, the proof of it all is in the way the cows choose to eat the ration without picking through it – and indication of a well mixed ration.

"The machine is greased weekly and the gearbox oil changed once a year - it is a very simple and reliable system," he says. "I just wish every other machine on the farm performed as well."