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Lyegrove Farm An Organic Dairy & Arable Farm In The Cotswolds. Farmed Area. Lyegrove extends to 1050acres - 880acres rented on an AHA agreement with the Beaufort Estate -170acres owned in one block 6miles to the south of Lyegrove 240 dairy cows on an all year round calving system
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Lyegrove FarmAn Organic Dairy & Arable Farm In The Cotswolds
Farmed Area • Lyegrove extends to 1050acres - 880acres rented on an AHA agreement with the Beaufort Estate -170acres owned in one block 6miles to the south of Lyegrove • 240 dairy cows on an all year round calving system • 170acres of HLS scheme, which includes wild flower margins and wild bird seed feeding mixes. • Mainly thin Cotswold Brash soils, with a small area of heavy deep clay.
Cropping Rotation 7yr Rotation 3yrs Legume (Clover or Lucerne) Winter Wheat Spring Barley Pea’s Winter/Spring Oats
Cropping Red Clover - Yields on average 25tons of Fresh Weight/ha/yr -Requires P & K applications to maintain its yields and not deplete soil indices. Lucerne - Yields on average 20tons of Fresh Weight/ha/yr -Requires P & K applications to maintain its yields and not deplete soil indices.
Cropping Wheat - Yields on average 4tons/ha -Wild Oats and Couch are the main problems especially growing for a seed contract Peas - Yields on average 3tons/ha -Source of on farm protein if they fail seed contract specification -Weeds can help to hold them up for combining
Organic Dairy Herd • Herd Size: 240 • -Breeding is Holstein/Fresian, with a trial bunch of 13 pure Fleckviehs • Young stock -All dairy replacements reared on farm, we aim for a 24-26 month calving in age of which 72% of the heifers achieve. • Calving index: 385days • Average Yield: 8000 • Average Conc: 0.29kgs/litre • Butterfat: 3.80 • Protein: 3.14 • SCC 153 • Milk Buyer: Dairy Crest Direct
Being an Organic Producer • Reasons for Converting to Organic ? -Healthy working environment -Challenge -Profitability • Biggest lessons learnt from being Organic ? -Ability of red clover and lucerne to grow consistently on our thin drought prone soil -Energy being a major limiting factor in the dairy herd -Market place restrictions, import and export
Future of Organic Farming • Profitability • Sustainability • Environmental Impact • Market place position