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by Dr Stephanie Woods (CREAM project co-ordinator)CREAM, one of several student-led enterprise management projects, at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus, provides Higher National Diploma Agriculture and Agricultural Technology Degree students with the unique opportunity to manage a high genetic merit Holstein herd. The herd is milked three times a day, with students carrying out all routine tasks including milking, feeding and breeding decisions. Students hosted the second of their biannual Advisory Board meetings earlier this month. They provided updates of recent performance from their feeding, breeding, finance and promotion, and milking and health teams. The herd is currently yielding 9,464 litres of milk, 4.13% butterfat, 3.12% protein, 68,000 somatic cells/ml and 35,000 colony forming units/ml bactoscan, on a 12 month rolling herd average basis. A key focus for the students at the Board Meeting was the most recent gross margin analysis. For the 2009/10 financial year the herd achieved a gross margin of £886/cow and 9.26 pence per litre. The improvement from the previous financial year was noted (up from £558/cow and 5.58 pence per litre in 2008/9), with the majority of this improvement resulting from the improved milk price observed throughout the industry this year. Milk price received for 2008/09 and 2009/10 was 20.13 and 22.76 pence per litre respectively. The board day finished with a short tour of the CREAM unit at the Greenount Campus, hosted by the students. Further information on the CREAM project and higher education courses in agriculture can be obtained from the campus at CAFRE.
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