Farm of the Week: Robotic milking for a better work-life balance at Barnsley dairy herd

James is now ploughing his own furrow in the dairy world and said he and his parents made immediate changes that were needed for the farm’s sustainability and his own wellbeing.

“The dairy enterprise needed considerable investment. We had discussed whether we even came out of farming. I didn’t want to see the farm go and made the decision I was going to come back but there was no way I was going to spend my life in a milking parlour.

“Having been away from the farm several years I had seen another side of life where you can finish work on a Friday afternoon at a reasonable time. Having to be up for milking at half past four in the morning was certainly not in my plans.

“We’re not here very long and it’s important to enjoy life. I know for many farming is a life, and that’s it, but to enjoy everything you need some spare time as well and so one of the things we did when I came back was to put in two Lely Astronaut robotic milkers.

James said the farming operation that is run across 450 acres and includes two farms, the other a handful of miles away near Silkstone, is a mix of arable and dairy and that he and his father look after both individually while being supportive of each other.

“I’d always been a stockman first and foremost, but after finishing at university I’d been fortunate enough to pick up an internship for a year in Georgia, Atlanta at Agco’s headquarters and had then followed that up by training technicians in Stoneleigh and subsequently had taken on a managerial role.

“Dad is definitely the arable man. You can’t get him off the tractor and he’ll not let anybody else plough. He passed the cows to me. They are my operation.

“We milk about 120 cows and have around 150 in the herd at present, but we are looking to increase that number and are about to take on another robot.

“We have mainly Holstein Friesians and some Jerseys. Since the cows have gone on to robotic milking our average yields have risen and we are also on an upwards spike with longevity of the herd year on year.

“The high yielders are producing anywhere between 15,000 to 18,000 litres per lactation and are now averaging six lactations where previously it was four and a half.

The robots have been just one part of the wholesale investment made to the dairy operation that has improved cow welfare and has inspired James to grow the herd further.

“The old cow cubicles had been designed for much smaller more Friesian-type cows. They had to go and initially we went to a big loose housed system, which was fine in the first year but then the straw price rocketed. We approached Easyfix a specialist cow mattress and dairy housing company and the purchases we made have greatly improved cow welfare.

James said the installation of the robotic milking machines, mattresses, plus the use of robotic scrapers to clear the dung, have all proved worthwhile but that his return to the farm came with considerable on-the-job education.

“I had a lot to learn. I’d been away for five years and what I thought I knew about dairy farming wasn’t enough by a long way. I had quite a learning curve.

“Dairy farming has moved on, not just with new technology. There has been so much advancement. I had to learn about rations, dry cow and calf management and how it affects everything all the way through.

“You’re on a fine line with the robots. Getting the balance right, especially the feeding, how much you feed through the robot and how much you feed around the outside of the shed is an art. You’re on a knife edge all the time and it takes a bit of mastering.

Milk at the Hills goes to Longley Farm. Holmfirth who the family has been with for many years. Herd replacements come from the cows being AI’d via Semex and the use of British Blue AI and an Aberdeen Angus bull to produce beef cattle.

James said the arable farming operation ensures the efficiency of the dairy enterprise.

“We aim to be as self-sufficient as we can. This year we will be growing barley, wheat, maize and winter beans.

“Our overall farm acreage is 450 acres with two-thirds at our home farm at Kidfield Farm in Hoylandswaine and the rest at Lower Norcroft Farm near Silkstone, which we took on fifteen years ago.

“We have 100 acres of grass for silage and I currently like an early maturing Italian rye before putting in 60 acres of maize. We also have 50 acres of rough grazing.

“Around half of our combinable cropping is winter wheat. We grow around 120 acres of wheat and use 150 tonnes of it ourselves with the rest going on the market. Winter barley is grown wholly for feed. We are growing winter beans for the first time this year to supply more of our own protein for the cows.

This year’s harvest has been one of the best James has known.

“We’ve averaged about 4.5 tonnes per acre where usually we are between 3.5 to 4 tonnes and we finished 12 August, my mum Valerie’s birthday, when she never usually gets to go out, which she did this time.

James said there has also been a move towards stewardship.

“We joined the mid-tier stewardship scheme this year and have some wild birdseed cover, four-metre buffer strips and we plan to put in four acres of sunflowers next year for PYO.

The Hills are currently setting up for a special event next Saturday 17 September when they will play host to a Zimbabwe Fest at Lower Norcroft Farm. James said it has all come about through the growing of maize.

“Several years ago dad was approached by Sheffield-based Zimbabwean businessman Menford Tapudzai who had found out about dad growing maize and wanted help growing it on his own land. Now Menford is growing 10 acres for edible sweetcorn at Lower Norcroft and the African community love it, as well as many others who love sweetcorn.

“There is a big festival down south called ZimFest and this year Menford is running a similar festival called Fun on the Farm as a kind of northern ZimFest which will include music, stalls and a barbecue, to cook the maize and pumpkin leaves which is another delicacy for the Zimbabwe community, combined with lamb and beef cuts.

James and his wife Alex have other ideas to add to the sustainability of the farm. Milk vending machines at Kidfield and at Blacker Hall Farm Shop are just the start of their long-term plan.