Dairy Farmer benefits from CAFRE Business Group membership
April 1, 2025
New Business Sustainability Groups (BSGs) are open for application. Elizabeth Calvin, CAFRE Dairying Adviser caught up with a past North Antrim Dairy Business Group participant to discuss his experiences of the Scheme.
Kenny Wilkinson along with his wife Nan and sons James and Daniel farm on the north Antrim coast near Ballycastle. In addition to the 115 head dairy herd, the family also run Wilkinson Agri Contracts.
Kenny has a clear objective for his dairy herd – to maximise milk from forage. Current farm production is 8,000 litres per cow (649 kg milk solids/cow), at a feed rate of 0.29 kg per litre.
Kenny joined the Causeway Dairy Business Development Group (BDG) when the groups were first introduced in 2016. He maintained membership until the scheme ended in 2023.
“The primary aim of previous Business Development Groups was to facilitate knowledge transfer and encourage the adoption of new technologies”, commented Elizabeth Calvin.
“One such technology being utilised on our farm is the use of a plate metre to monitor grass growth”, commented Kenny. The herd is full-time at grass from April through to October. Monitoring grass growth alongside Agrinet software to produce a grass wedge gives Kenny the data to accurately allocate grass to cows, identify excesses and deficits and alter the rotation accordingly. It also allows for reseeding decisions to be made based on production information. “This technology is fundamental for achieving the farm objective of improving milk from forage. It has been crucial in navigating the uncertain grass growing conditions experienced in recent years” added Kenny.
“After a series of heifer rearing meetings focusing on measurement to achieve performance, we’ve implemented a weigh band to monitor growth stages. We are using this at weaning, first turnout and six to eight weeks before breeding,” remarked Kenny.
Elizabeth noted that “By measuring and monitoring, performance is tracked enabling decision making to ensure stock are on track to meet target liveweights throughout the rearing period. This enables farmers to identify animals not on target and re-group and preferentially feed to attain target weights”.
“It is not always a major technology that you learn about and decide to implement. I often took take away small ideas from the discussion meetings or from seeing around someone else’s farm. The Groups were good at identifying and discussing different ways of doing things better”, added Kenny.
As part of the Causeway Group, Kenny met with other Dairy farmers from his local area. After after some initial apprehension the group members connected well. “Farming can be an isolated job, and it is easy to have negative conversations at challenging times. Being part of a Group, you can get away from your farm and realise that you are not the only person with difficult decisions. You can have a laugh and a joke with similarly minded people and constructive conversations about what can be done!” concluded Kenny.
CAFRE is currently recruiting for the new programme of Business Sustainability Groups (BSGs). If you are a Dairy farmer develop your knowledge, cooperation and innovation through a BSG. Apply now to improve the sustainability and performance of your businesses. Applications close at noon on Friday, 2 May 2025. For more information click here.