Note from Matt - September 2021

Next month world leaders and climate experts will descend upon Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). Sustainable land use is a topic being discussed in the first week, and there’s no doubt this will result in a flood of incorrect facts, sweeping statements and anti-farming campaigners berating UK agriculture.

Along with the pig and poultry industries, the dairy sector is often the one where most finger-pointing occurs. This could be due to the perceived scale and intensity of some operations, which some may automatically think equates to high emissions.

In fact, the opposite is probably true and as such, it is important we unite as an industry and shout about all the good we are doing for the environment and the work being done to reduce emissions.

It is vital we bust any myths about emissions from UK dairy farming, so to help with this, we will be issuing some UK dairy emissions facts in the coming weeks with advice on how you can use them to help promote the positive things the UK dairy industry is doing to reduce emissions. Whether it’s promoting positive messages on social media, emails, to your friends, colleagues and through newsletters, every little helps!

We will be covering environmental challenges and future legislation at this year’s virtual Business and Policy Conference, which is running from 30 November- 2 December. We have Kathryn Morley, Policy Advisor on Climate Change and Agriculture at Defra and Tom Judd, Environment and Business Senior Advisor from the Environment Agency talking through some of the changes coming our way relating to emissions and the environment. You can find out what else is on offer and register to attend the free online event at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/business-policy-conference .

If you can’t make the conference don’t worry as we will also be featuring the environment and emissions at Dairy-Tech 2022 taking place on Wednesday 2nd February at Stoneleigh Park. UK agriculture is facing some huge changes with regards to the environment and the phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme. Dairy-Tech will be the perfect opportunity to meet experts and gather all the information you may need to help guide you through the transition. As RABDF Members you will get free access to the event, so we hope you can make it.

That’s all for this month.

All the best,

Matt

Note from Matt - August 2021

Last week (5 Aug) we held our first live event in 18 months- the long-awaited 2019 Gold Cup Open Day at Bryce and Robert Sloan’s farm in Ayrshire.

It was a spectacular day with 1,000 visitors browsing the 50+ trade stands and of course, the award-winning farm. There were also speaker stations covering a range of topics from calf management to the use of robots.

Given the amount of folk who stood watching the Lely Juno and the robotic milkers and by the buzz surrounding the Lely stand, I think it is safe to say people’s heads were turned when they saw the robots in action.

The Sloan’s are a great advocate for the industry, having a fantastic ethos that puts family at the heart of what they do. They have embraced robot technology to free up time so labour can be used elsewhere, which is probably why they have outstanding production, attributed to the attention to detail they apply.  

It is easy to look at farms like Darnlaw and to think ‘that is not within my reach’. However, maximising production does not necessarily mean spending big bucks, it comes down to the fine detail.

It was interesting to hear a talk from Ed Hewitt at Armour Vets who explained the importance of hitting growth rate targets of between 0.7-0.9kg a day to get heifers calving down at 24 months old. As farm subsidies are phased out, it is important to focus on these finer details that could mean make or break for some farming businesses.

The statistic from the day that sticks in my mind – a heifer calving down at 22 months old will produce 7,200 l more milk by the time she is 30 months than one calving down at 30 months who will have yielded nothing. Rearing costs also vary from £1156 at 22 months to over £1500 at 30 months old. It is not necessarily technology or new equipment that will help you achieve those goals, but rather attention to detail when it comes to health, feeding and housing, for example.

On-farm events are a great investment in time not only to see how others are doing things but to share ideas, speak to experts as well as socialising with like-minded peers. We could not hold such events without our sponsors, which included our principal sponsor Lely, Gold Cup Award Sponsor NMR and headline sponsors Kite Consulting, Advance Sourcing and Volac. We would also like to thank Graham’s Family Dairy for keeping visitors stocked up on their delicious yogurt, milk and ice cream.  

Covid- 19 allowing, we will be bringing you more live events in the not-too-distant future with our next event being Women in Dairy next month (online), Business and Policy Conference (online) in November and Entrepreneurs in Dairy (face-face and online) in November. Plans for Dairy-Tech 2022 are also going great guns with the stand space almost fully booked.

You can keep up to date with all the latest event news at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/forthcoming-events. For a full report from the Gold Cup event see https://www.rabdf.co.uk/latest-news/2021/8/10/sloan-family-welcomed-large-crowd-at-long-awaited-gold-cup-open-day

Note from Matt - June 2021

After months of waiting following Defra’s announcement last year about exit payments to farmers in England, last week (19 May), they launched a 12-week consultation. Although the devil is always in the detail, which the consultation doesn't contain, it does outline plans for two exit payment schemes that it hopes will allow farmers in England to retire with dignity and free up land for new entrants to farm.

The two schemes it proposes are:

1. A lump sum exit scheme to offer a lump sum payment to help farmers to retire in a planned and managed way.

2. Delinked payments which involve separating direct payments from the amount of land farmed, from 2024. This will simplify the process for farmers, allow them to focus on running their business and encourage them to take up the government’s new environmental land management schemes, which will reward sustainable food production and environmental improvements.

If retiring is something you are thinking about in the not too distant future, then this is your chance to get involved and have your say. The government is trying to co-design this system with the industry. This is your chance to make your views known and help direct how the exit payment plans will work. Please feel free to get in touch with us directly if you have any feedback on the consultation by email office@rabdf.co.uk.

You can read more at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/latest-news/2021/5/19/farmers-views-sought-on-exit-payments-consultation

In other news, we are delighted to be progressing full steam ahead with plans for Dairy-Tech 2022. We have seen a record number of stand sales as well as an unprecedented amount of new product launches. We have an early bird discount offer running until 27 June, but with so few stand spaces left it’s important for any exhibitors wishing to book to get in touch now. You can do so by emailing charlesneale@rabdf.co.uk

After 18 months of no face-to-face events and prolonged social distancing, I think it’s important (as long as rules allow and it is safe to do so) to get back to face-to-face events. Our events have always proved popular and they provide one of the best platforms to share ideas and learning among our peers. As mentioned in last month’s Milk Digest plans are full steam ahead for the Gold Cup event at Robert Sloan’s farm in August and we hope to be bringing you more live events as the year progresses. Keep posted on our events page at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/training-events

We hope you are all keeping well an enjoying some sort of normality as restrictions ease.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

All the best,

Matt

How to get in touch

Email: Office@rabdf.co.uk

Call: 02476 639 317