PlansĪ further 15kW of solar panels will be installed this year to further reduce the farm’s electricity bills.Ī trailing shoe system has been ordered for the slurry tanker and a new slurry pit, half a mile from the farm, will be built this year to umbilically spread slurry on a 40ha block of arable land and so mitigate nitrogen costs. Kevin is part of the AHDB Udder Group and enjoys discussing cow management with other farmers. Janet has been at Bryn Mawr for more than 25 years, two part-timers have done more than 10 years and calf rearer Rachel Dickinson started two years ago. “We have employed another early milker who has retired from the aerospace industry and wants to work at that time,” explains Kevin. Morning milking was moved to 2am to fit in with a part-time staff member’s shift pattern, making it the dairy’s first collection of the day. Peopleįull-time staff are Kevin, his wife, Ann, his son, Richard, and herdsperson Janet Fowles, backed up by five part-time staff.Īnn oversees youngstock rearing, farm accounts and payroll, while Richard shares artificial insemination responsibilities with Kevin and does most of the tractor work. The old brick cow sheds have been converted into residential and holiday lets, heated by a biomass boiler. Variable-speed vacuum pumps save electricity in the parlour, while water is pumped from a spring on the farm for the herd, and harvested from roofs for parlour cleaning.įurther costs have been saved on diversifications.
Soya is being phased out in favour of rapeseed, and fat has been cut from the diet completely in a bid to cut costs.Įnergy bills are controlled by using a 10kW solar generator, installed in 2007.Ī heat recovery system takes heat from cooling milk in the parlour to warm milk for calves, which are fed on an electronic identification (EID) automatic mixer/feeder.
#Rainy daze farms adn genetics drivers#
This suits cheese contracts and rewards the business – with fat and protein the drivers of milk price. The change in diet has seen yields drop by 400 litres a cow, but milk quality has improved from about 4% fat and 3.3% protein to 4.37% fat and 3.47% protein. This has reduced haulage costs and increased margins through feed cost control. Home-grown maize, cereal and grass silage has been used to replace distillers’ byproducts, bread and biscuit waste.
ProfitĪ decade of genomic testing has minimised bull calves, ramped up genetic gain in heifers by targeting sexed semen at the highest merit animals, and improved beef calf value through targeted Blue, Angus and Shorthorn inseminations.
Kevin lost his father Glyn – an active business partner – in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and because of probate had to manage cash flows with no Basic Payment Scheme for two years. The Bryn Mawr team has maintained high standards through a challenging period. Focusing on home-grown forage and milk quality has boosted margins at the environmentally conscious Bryn Mawr Farm.Ī biomass boiler installation, barn conversions and a host of other renewables projects have been executed while expanding the herd from 200 to 350 milkers since 2012.Ī new parlour and a cow shed have been built, and more land has been bought.
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