dairyco extension activities: supporting change in the
TRANSCRIPT
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....