DairyCo Extension Activities:

Supporting Change in the

Dairy Sector

Chris Duller

“....Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin‘”

Bob Dylan 1964

Increasing scale

Specialisation Regulation

Environmental issues Consumer pressures

Price volatility Increasing energy costs

Technology

Labour supply

Disease pressures

Climate change

Increasing output Contract restraints

Global economy - Increasing demand?

So what do you think

of CHANGE?

Detailed benchmarking can

help identify a need for

change – and avoid change

for change’s sake.

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Herd size (cows)

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Milk yield (litres per cow per year)

..... at any level of

output.

Milk can be

produced

efficiently at any

scale and .....

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Milk price (pence per litre)

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Cost of production (pence per litre)

Milk price is not a

key determinant

of profit ......

...... total cost of

production is.

Any change needs to be carefully planned –

increasing costs of production can outstripping any

increase in revenue.

Often there are many impacts of increasing

output.......

Our benchmarking survey reveals that increasing purchased feed costs by 1p per litre resulted in a total increase of production costs of 1.62p – (labour, machinery and vet/med)

But we also need to remember what the drivers

for change in farming are.....

1) Pride/satisfaction 2) Time 3) Legacy 4) Financial gain

So change has to be promoted as multiple gains

– not just £££££

DairyCo – who are we?

• Levy body and part of Agriculture and

Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)

• England, Scotland and Wales

• Annual levy of nearly £7million

( collected @ 0.06p/litre)

Our main purpose

• Provision of evidence based, world-class

technical information

• Help dairy farmers:

– Increase profitability through better business

management

– Meet and manage environmental needs and

regulatory requirements

– Promote positive perception of dairy farming

Mission Statement

“To promote world class knowledge

to British dairy farmers so they

can profit from a sustainable

future”

Currently DairyCo

....... “has no view on whether GB should be producing more milk or not”

.......“We aim to improve the performance of the farmers in the industry”

More focussed on non-market challenges to

make farmers more efficient – whatever their

level of production or system

But.....”DairyCo are well placed to help farmers

respond to any major changes in market forces

should they need to”..........

Extension

Business data

R & D

Effective

knowledge

transfer

Genetics

Marketing and Communications

DairyCo - main areas of activity

So what is extension......?

Technology/information

Dairy farmers

awareness

adaptation support and guidance

demonstration

Farmer interaction Sharing experiences/knowledge

non-commercial and independent readily accessible

Wide medium of delivery

National coverage

– range of skills and technical expertise

People skills Facilitation Adult learning techniques Engaging farmers Getting information across Encouraging interaction Improving businesses Fun and challenging

Discussion groups Open events Impact groups Business workshops Benchmarking MB+

No “one-one” work We are not consultants!

Working closely with vets National agencies Milk buyers Commercial companies Cross sector initiatives

So does DairyCo extension work???

12,500 dairy farms in England, Scotland and Wales DairyCo extension team made over 13,000 individual contacts.......?? Work with over 150 discussion groups (almost 1 in 7 dairy farmers regularly attend a discussion group) Last year held 78 Open meetings and 70 impact group workshops And benchmarked 280 farms

But is it enough to drive change??

Jono Rogers – discussion group member - Glocs

110 cows AYR – 7200l – less than 2000 from forage

Benchmarked (MB+) faired poorly compared to rest of his group

Targeted better use of his grassland to reduce feed costs

Group meeting on his farm to discuss a strategy to improve milk from grass

Local EO provided training on how to use plate meter and plan grazing

wedge

An extra 25 grazing days

24hr allocation

An extra 500l from forage

Reduced feed costs by 2p/l

Better use of slurry – Alan Cooper, Somerset

Had a weeping wall slurry store – poor use of resources

Poor grazing conditions and high P and K indexes

Attended a nutrient management workshop – took advice from DairyCo EO on

investing in new slurry lagoon.

900m3 clay lined lagoon – cost around £6000

Now produces a 6%DM slurry that can be

pumped onto all silage ground

Reduced fertiliser bill by £2500 and

saved over £1000 in pumping/hauling

costs.

So investment covered in two years.

"helping farmers reduce lameness

through improved management

of cows and people"

• A step-wise process

• Builds on DairyCo's promotion of

mobility scoring

• Mentoring: a very different approach

• DairyCo interaction with vets and

foot trimmers – not directly with

farmers

The four success factors for healthy feet

The plan in action: case study

35% lame (score 2+3)

Step 1: skills check and diagnosis

Step 2: farm risk assessment

Hoof quality: dirty, wet feet

Step 2: farm risk assessment

Infection pressure: inadequate foot bathing

Step 2: farm risk assessment

Forces on feet: low lying times

Step 2: farm risk assessment

Forces on feet: harsh use of backing gate

Step 3: agree Mobility Contract

23% lame (score 2+3)

- reduced from 35%

At six month review:

• 80% of agreed actions

were done

• Morale of whole farm

team was noticeably

better

• Some more training

was requested due to

staff changes

• Better cow flow was

shortening milking

times

DairyCo extension.......

Information and knowledge

support and back-up

helping drive change to improve efficiency

and and lower costs

So ...a bit of head scratching about the future...........

Controlling endemic disease – TB, Johnes and BVD

Controlling production diseases – lameness/mastitis.

Cow longevity – genetics, heifer management.

Maximising the use of grass and home grown forages – reducing

feeding costs - FCE

Greenhouse gases – most will be win:win messages.

Targeted messages and delivery – reaching and engaging with all levy payers.

Challenges for the future......

Frequency of contact with DairyCo – Face to face

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Total Total Total Total

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Regularly

Discussion

Groups

3rd Party

Forums

Extension

officer visits At shows

Base:

Total 750

Challenges for the future...

........greater contact...building trust

Whilst changing markets may provide opportunities for

some – it is equally as important to focus on non-market

challenges

As an industry we must focus on making dairy farming a

profitable and attractive occupation

Efficiency and attention to production costs will be key

Big is not necessarily beautiful.....

Higher output does not guarantee profitability or sustainability

Expansion will not always dilute costs....