1. My placement year at Kingshay Independent Dairy Specialists Laura O’Connor

2. The company An independent dairy specialists – offering advice and undertaking trials uninfluenced by major companies and brands Based in Somerset although uses a network of associate consultants to reach nationwide Approximately 400 members receiving mailing through the post plus many more receiving mailings electronically Hundreds of farmers indirectly associated with Kingshay as they complete monthly costings through their feed representatives 3 areas of service – consultancy, technical trials and advice and costings Trials vary from slurry additives to concrete grooving to grass varieties.

4. PackageReports included starter package  most basic available package  including a monthly report showing rolling 12 month figures, this month’s costings, this month last year’s figures and group averages.  a special interest group allowing farmers to rank their farms against other farms in using similar systems  an annual summary of the herd’s performance of the year Regular package  all the reports in the starter package  milk predictor to forecast milk production and monitor monthly progress  a calf, culls and replacements report  a longevity report to analyse why cows are leaving the herd  an annual feed summary to compare feed costs with other herds in the region premium package  all the reports from the regular and starter package  more detailed reports on mastitis  fertility  lameness  a general health summary. premium plus full costs package  includes all the other reports  full costs summary along with management comments  a report on output and variable costs  a report on overhead costs

5. The Farm The office is based at Bridge Farm, West Bradley, Glastonbury, Somerset Bridge Farm is a commercial dairy farm run by David Cotton in tenanted buildings. Currently with a herd of 175 dairy cows, the farm stretches over 500 acres and also includes young stock, beef and arable. The farm is the main area for trial establishment – there are currently 16 types of cubicles and 13 types of mats and mattresses in situ in the main cow housing shed. There are other sites throughout the county used for growing maize and grass. The farm made use of Kingshay having the herd lameness and body condition scored on a regular basis. The grass was weekly plate metered and this showed in dramatic increases in milk from forage.

6. My role A part of my week was spent checking costing inputs from feed suppliers and consultants, I also inputted costings sent in directly from farmers. I added new members, back dated information, assisted representatives in their queries and posted out hard copies of the reports. With health manager certain farmers send in data off farm in a program called Interherd. This program originally designed for vets, allows farmers to keep track of every little detail on farm from calvings per month, to lameness cases, to deaths, mastitis and somatic cell counts. I sifted through this data to generate health reports. I was involved in use accounts from the accountant to generate a full costings report showing all margins and giving a full overview of the profitability of the farm.

7. I helped the team to write farming notes, calling suppliers and getting quotes and prices for anything from segregation gates to feed barriers. I drafted articles for the monthly checklists and assisted in the planning of future farming notes. I wrote a number of farming notes myself. The majority of these were animal health related and the occasional one was on building design. I developed a plan for a new tried and tested project and helped with existing projects harvesting maize and collecting grass samples

8. Projects undertaken I have written a series of technical notes on wormers covering everything from each wormer group to good grass management I helped to get a group of farmers up to date with all their health data using data imported off farm in Interherd and Interherd +. I accompanied an associate consultant from P & L consulting on 3 business workshops in both Derbyshire and Pembrokeshire, helping to deliver a better understanding for farmers on their financial situation, how this compares to similar farms and how they can improve their returns.

9. I designed a project on bacterial loading of bedding materials for dairy cows to establish if certain bedding materials encouraged or discouraged bacterial growth. The first thing I did was to research multiple journals (approximately 40) to establish an understanding on work previously carried out, the significance of the problem and an area that needed further investigation. I went out on farm to take fresh and used samples of bedding, which were sent to a lab in Tiverton where they established a new testing protocol based upon a trial carried out by an American called Joe Hogan. I analysed all the results and used these to put across recommendations to the farmers in a 20 page report that was launched for the first time this year at the Dairy and Livestock Event at the NEC.

10. How have I developed I have grown to understand my weaknesses and my strengths. Learnt that weaknesses are only weaknesses as long I chose not to do something to improve them. That if I have confidence and apply myself I can achieve my goals. That although I still have areas that need development the things I do know I know thoroughly.

11. What have I learnt Firstly I know more than I thought I did!! That even if I don’t know something if I apply myself, show an interest and ask questions I will not only learn but people will be willing to teach me. That I should have confidence in my abilities. If I don’t have confidence how can I offer someone advice and them have faith in what I tell them.