OVER the past seven years, 28-year-old Tom Jones, from Trelay Farm near Davidstow in Cornwall, has overhauled his family farm business to simplify every area of management with an aim of improving profitability.

Tom, who farms with his wife Clare, and his parents, Chris and Jackie, joined the family business after completing his GCSE’s, having always been passionate about the dairy farm. He soon became an integral member of the team and, over the years, has been completely involved in the future direction of the business, working particularly closely with his father to implement major business changes.

At that time, the farm milked 120 Holstein cows, fed a TMR (total mixed ration), with summer buffer feeding, was all year calving, milk recorded and utilised parlour metres, feeding to yield in the parlour. The average yield was 9,000-litres per cow, and Tom and Chris quickly realised the high demands of the system, without seeing sufficient financial rewards.

It’s not an easy farm to manage, with 65” of rainfall a year and standing at 800ft above sea level on the edge of Bodmin moor, but they were clear they needed to lower costs and that the current system wasn’t working for the family.

Today, the farm has seen a complete U-turn in their approach to managing their herd, which now has 275 cows and averages 5,500-litres per cow. The system is grass-based, with cows typically out from February to December, the TMR is no longer fed, with the cows eating self-fed silage at the clamp during the winter months.

The farm now operates a block calving pattern, with 175 calving in spring and 100 in the autumn. The breeding program has moved towards British Friesian and Jersey to produce a herd more suitable to the grass based system, with capacity and feet traits being priority. Milk recording is limited to quarterly sample testing, and the 14:28 Herringbone parlour has been adapted to a direct line operation, with cows fed a flat rate 18% concentrate in the parlour.

One of the key changes has been switching to the new farming app ‘Herdwatch’, which has helped them to get on top of the frustration surrounding the growing mound of farm paperwork — something most farmers will relate to.

Tom said: “We had to look for ways to make the daily demands of our business more efficient. One of the most recent changes tackled the amount of time we were spending on paperwork — particularly when we are at peak calving times in the spring.

“Farm assurance dictates that paperwork cannot be compromised when you are busy, so we wanted an option that would allow us to update records quickly and easily. We have saved hours by using the Herdwatch app on our mobile phones.

“When a calf is born, you literally press a button and the passport application is done or, when we treat a cow, the medicine records are quickly updated. I think it’s important to look at all technology that’s available to you, and consider how it can benefit your business.”

For the full report see this week’s Farming Diary, free with the Post.