UK's top herd hosts Dairy Nutrition event - Cowsmo

UK’s top herd hosts Dairy Nutrition event

More than 300 farmers from across the UK descended on Worthy Farm recently to hear from the industry’s finest on dairy nutrition.

The event, which took place at Michael Eavis’ farm in Pilton and at Alistair Hardwick’s 360-acre Church Farm, west of Bath, was hosted by ruminant nutrition specialists Agri-Lloyd in conjunction with Alta Genetics to showcase the very best in British dairy farming.

The Worthy Farm herd, managed by John Taylor, last month won the Milk Records/RABDF Gold Cup, recognising his work in looking after the best commercial dairy herd in Britain.

James Hallett, sales director at Agri-Lloyd said: “Opportunities for knowledge transfer and sharing best practice are vital in the farming industry. Farmers learn from farmers and gain a lot from visiting other sites to develop ideas on how they can improve their own productivity and efficiency. We are very fortunate to have been welcomed to two such high calibre farms as part of the programme.

“John Taylor, farm manager at Worthy Farm, recently celebrated winning the 2014 National Milk Records/Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers Gold Cup, the premier UK dairy herd award in recognition of the farm’s efficiency in commercial dairy production, so the farmers who attended the event were in safe hands and were able to hear from the industry’s finest.”

Worthy Farm is a 230-ha unit, home to 385 Holstein cows. The farm is managed by John and his wife Pam who monitor progress, set targets and develop new ideas with the farm’s owner, Michael Eavis CBE.

John Taylor added: “Today was perfect for anyone who is interested in learning more about progressive dairy farming. Following our recent successes, we wanted to take the opportunity to share our experiences and hopefully help other dairy farmers in the process.”

The day’s programme included presentations and workshops hosted by agents from both Agri-Lloyd and Alta Genetics covering subjects such as genomics, cow comfort and slurry and calf rearing.

Mr Hardwick said: “I have attended a few open days myself and knew that today would be worthwhile. I have been able to give something back to the farming community by sharing my knowledge and years of experience. I hope those who attended benefitted from the sessions on nutrition, housing and especially breeding and genomics, a hot topic in the farming sector at the moment.”

Part of the Tangerine Group, Agri-Lloyd offers a range of products designed to improve ruminant performance through rumen health and efficiency.

Ioan Davies, owner of Penlan Farm in Carmarthenshire, who attended the event, added: “I use a number of Agri-Lloyds products and was interested to hear how John uses Lactaid. After hearing what John had to say about the processes at Worthy Farm, I am thinking of using Lactaid as it helped him achieve a 35-litre average.”

Source: Western Daily Press

 

 

 

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