3C and ME, Calne, Wiltshire, UK
| When four dairy farmers wanted to cut their feeding costs they decided to purchase a mixer wagon and a tractor and share the running costs between them. Should you ever come face to face with a farming co-operative called the 3C & ME don't hesitate to inquire how it acquired such a name. You will be told, hopefully, that it is formed by taking the first letter of four Wiltshire villages - Calstone, Cherhill, Compton Bassett and Mile Elm. And before you can ask why, some one will tell you that in each of these four villages there is a member of the co-operative who has a dairy farm and has a part share in the running of a mixer wagon. 3C & ME was formed four years ago by a group of dairy farmers who were anxious to reduce their feed costs - not by what they fed their cows but with what they used to feed them with. |  |
Evershot Farms, Dorset, UK.
As dairy herds get bigger their reliance on mixer wagons to provide accurately mixed rations becomes ever greater. Further more they need to be able to do it day after day. We take a look at two of Velcourt's Dorset-based dairy farms which opted to use large twin auger machines. Maximising milk yields - but not at the expense of extra cost - is the aim of many of the UK's dairy farms. It is a message not lost on two of Velcourt's dairy units based in Dorset - one at Melbury and the other an hour's drive away in Abbotsbury.
Glympton Farms, Glympton, Reading, Berkshire, UK
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The Glympton herd of pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle is well known in the world of cattle breeding. But such respect does not come without a great deal of skilled selective breeding, top class management and attention to matters of the diet The word immaculate is not a word to be used loosely or indeed where words with greater accuracy can be employed - such as neat and tidy. But for the stock section of Glympton Farms, with its acres of concrete, modern cattle housing and cosseted inhabitants, immaculate on this occasion would appear to be an entirely appropriate word. |
Julian Taylor, Harleston, Norfolk, UK
A Combination of breeding and feeding has seen Julian Taylor's Norfolk based dairy herd move from fifth to the number-one slot for Norfolk in the latest NMR Annual Production Report rankings.
This puts the herd right among the top production names in the national rankings- it's now in 12th place.
Julian runs his 120-cow herd plus 100 followers, at Starston, near Harleston, with help from herd manager Trevor Collier. He has seen production increase from 10,929 Kg of milk at 3.67 per cent fat and 3.19 per cent protein for the year ended September 2004, to 11,508Kg of milk at 3.83 per cent fat and 3.11 per cent protein for the year ended September 2005. This is the first time his herd has made it into the NMR top 1 per cent nationally based on production.
Maple Durhum Estate, Reading, Bershire, UK
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Let's face it, adding ingredients to a mixer wagon to a required weight is not easy. Mistakes can happen and, as a result, milk yields can fall. For a large dairy unit near Reading it was a problem that needed solving. While it is everyone's intention to add the correct amount of each ingredient to a mixer wagon when creating a diet, the reality is that mistakes happen and, for dairy rations at least, milk yield can be adversely affected. |
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