Cumbria monitor farms open for discussion

CUMBRIA'S monitor farmers are inviting local dairy, beef and sheep producers to their farms to discuss the areas of performance they want to improve on through the three-year project. 

Matt and Sue Bland at Hesket Farm, Dacre, near Penrith, will be hosting a range of short demonstrations and talks at their open day on Tuesday, August 25th about different aspects of their dairy farm’s management.

And Ken and Mandy Pears at Fellside House Farm, Caldbeck, between Penrith and Wigton, will be hosting an event on Thursday, August 27th to highlight areas of interest for monitoring on their typical upland stock rearing farm.

Hesket Farm (The Dairy Farm) - start time 10 a.m.

The subjects will be focussed on the methods that Matt and Sue are trying out to improve productivity. They include working with specialists on herd fertility, total mixed ration feeding, grassland management and making the most of slurry. They are also hoping to make better use of grazing, with the help of a "grazing mentor". 

Fellside House Farm (The Beef and Sheep Farm) - start time 4 p.m.

Ken and Mandy would like to improve winter feeding of cattle in buildings where mixed ration feeding is difficult, maximise home-produced feed and to do feeding trials to cost-effectively finish fell-reared lambs. The event will include a farm tour, a demonstration by EBLEX of doing tup MOT’s and things to consider when selecting tups and bulls. 

Cumbria Farmer Network will be inviting farmers to join business groups attached to these farms.

Using expertise from within the industry, farmers joining a business group will be involved in discussions to improve the performance of the monitor farm, using the shared information to then benefit their own businesses.

Farmers attending the open days will also have the opportunity to speak to advisers dealing with animal health and welfare plans, nutrient management plans, resource audits and capital grants.

The events have been planned by the steering groups of dairy farmers and beef and sheep farmers from all over the county, who will be making sure that the events are useful, topical and practical and that the Northwest Livestock Programme funding goes as far as possible.

Farmers wanting to attend an open day should confirm their attendance by contacting Ruth on 01768 868 615 or by emailing bookings@cumbriafarmernetwork.co.uk

Comments

Kate Gascoyne

Thursday, 06 August 2009 at 07:16PM

address for bookings for CFN events is bookings@cumbriafarmernetwork.co.uk Can you please change it from the info address? Thanks Kate

Add a Comment

If you would like to leave a comment, please login or register for an account.