Simple changes boost profits for 2600-cow farm

Reducing on-farm emissions by making simple changes is helping to increase profits on one of the UK’s biggest dairy units.

That was the message delivered by Grosvenor Farms dairy manager David Craven to 1300 visitors at last month’s Down to Earth event in Cheshire. The 2,600-cow herd is housed all year round and produces more than 12,000 litres per cow.

Feeding more efficiently, introducing co-products into cow diets, improving herd genetics and focusing on waste management can all increase dairy margins while being better for the environment, said Mr Craven.

Grosvenor Farms aims to reach net zero within six years, listeners were told. Arable manager Charlie Steer said all sides of the business were taking a joined-up approach to create a circular farming system.

The integrated farming strategy, such as recycling manure into organic fertilisers to replenish soils, means more than 80% of the animal feed at Lea Manor Farm is grown without the use of artificial fertilisers.

It has one of the lowest carbon emissions within the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group milk pool at 939kg of CO2e/litre, reducing emissions by over 40% over the last 10 years while improving profits. The Tesco group average is 1,158 kg of CO2e/litre of milk.

Mr Steer said it was vital that farmers knew their carbon footprint to move forward.

“You need to understand your position and where you can get to, and then you can set out a plan to do so. Without that, if you haven’t got a starting point, you don’t know where you will go,” he said.

Know your numbers

AHDB environment advisor John Gilliland said on-farm emission data was vital for farmers to tell their climate change story with transparency and integrity. Producers should be armed with it, he added.

“Know your numbers, go for the win-wins and engage the win-wins. Grosvenor has done exceptionally well; they’ve leveraged the win-wins to show that as they bring their footprint down, their profit has gone up.”

Speakers advised visitors on some of the easy wins they could take to reduce emissions. Consultant Adrian Packington outlined how new feed ingredient Bovaer was helping to reduce enteric methane emissions at Grosvenor Farms.

The product is being fed at 60 parts per million (ppm) in the total diet, equating to 1.5g fed per cow per day. Initial data at Grosvenor showed that feeding Bovaer had reduced methane by 31%, or 1.3 tonnes of C02 per cow per year, said Mr Packington.

Low-carbon dairy

“If we’re going to move towards low-carbon dairy, we really have got to address enteric methane. At COP 26 in Glasgow, 155 countries signed up to the global methane pledge to reduce methane by 30% by 2030. So, reducing methane by 10% is not enough.”

AB Dairy ruminant technical manager Anna Sutcliffe gave examples of how dietary changes can reduce emissions. Swapping soya for a protected rape was a good start, she explained.

“At Grosvenor, they use rape as their primary protein source. Nova Pro, a protected rape product, has a bypass protein content similar to soya so that you can replace that quality protein.”

Dr Sutcliffe said co-products such as Trafford Gold and Brewers Grain draft had very low emissions values as the carbon has followed the head product. Better breeding is also contributing to emission reductions, she added.

Speakers from Cogent explained how Eco Feed, an index that measures feed conversion, can reduce feed intake and methane production by 15% for every 5-point increase in the EcoFeed score while maintaining production.

Habitat protection

Grosvenor Farms is also de-risking its business by using higher-yielding land areas for food production and less productive areas for habitat protection and enhancement. In total,12% of the land is in a biodiversity scheme.

Edward Earnshaw from Just Farm explained that other farmers could also make money by identifying unproductive land and entering it into Defra’s Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMs).

“For those people that are prepared to look at it, these payments can add up to be quite a significant part of the gross margin, let alone net margin, and that is where I’d encourage people to start with and focus on what works, what fits and what pays.

“Unproductive flower-rich grass areas are one of the best ones because they are hugely practical (to plant) in an area that doesn’t perform well. It’s worth almost £330 an acre, and that comes back to making every acre pay.”

The Down to Earth event was organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers. Chairman Robert Craig said it highlighted that reducing on-farm emissions doesn’t have to be about making huge investments.

“Fine-tuning can make a big difference over time, not only in emission reductions but also in overall farm profitability. Grosvenor Farms is a clear example of how a drive to reduce emissions has positively impacted productivity and output.”