Ards Farmer recommends joining a Business Sustainability Group
May 7, 2025
Bill Brown and his wife Gail have a farm of 200 dairy cows near the village of Millisle on the Ards Peninsula. A major focus for Bill over the past five years has been on herd fertility and the development of a compact autumn calving herd. The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) local Business Development Group (BDG) has played a major role in this process and Bill is keen for the new scheme to continue where the old one left off. The new scheme groups are called Business Sustainability Groups (BSGs) and CAFRE have just announced an extension to the application period to Monday 19th May.
The Brown’s milking herd is managed on a 60 hectare milking block of good, free draining land. A further 34 hectares of land on outside blocks is used for heifer rearing and silage production. Overall stocking rate is 2.3 cows/ha while stocking rate on the milking block is 3.3 cows/hectare.
Herd performance is in a good place at present with significant improvements in fertility over the past five years. Excellent conditions this year and the improved fertility performance has allowed the herd to capitalise on the excellent quality grass available. The strategic decisions made and discussed at many BDG events over the past few years are really starting to pay dividends on the Brown farm.
Bill explains that “Using the business group to share ideas and discuss the many issues I have encountered throughout my dairy herd development journey has been a major source of reassurance for me”.
Conail Keown, Senior CAFRE Adviser, highlights the key points of the new scheme by saying that “The focus of the new group programme is to develop sustainable and resilient dairy farms across the country. To achieve this, we need to optimise the use of farm resources for profitable milk production under a continuously changing and increasingly challenging horizon. Growing pressure from economic and environmental conditions, and growing concerns around social aspect of dairy farming all need to be managed and factored into the daily routine of dairy farms across the country.”
Conail continued that “The BSG scheme is not focusing specifically on expansion or on farm system comparisons. Instead, it will draw on farmer experience and highlight the use of benchmarking and measurement of performance to guide decision making in farm management. The group structure will provide farmers the opportunity to share ideas, solve problems and acquire technical expertise. There is also a social aspect where farmers find support, encouragement and make new friendships.”
CAFRE has just recently extended the application period for the new programme of Business Sustainability Groups for a range of agricultural sectors. If you are a farmer or grower keen to improve efficiency, sustainability and profitability of your business then don’t miss this chance of joining the new groups. For more information visit the Business Sustainability Groups page.