9 minute read
SUSTAINABILITY
A Leicestershire farm which generates 85% of its power requirements from a wind turbine has recently been announced as winner of a sustainability award. Jonathan Wheeler reports.
Three generations of the Hunt family run an 80 strong mixed breed dairy herd on 138 hectares (340 acres) of grassland at Buckwell Lodge farm, near Lutterworth, with the business converting to organic production last year.
They were recently announced as a 2022 winner of the VetPartners Sustainability Dairy Award, with the competition judges praising the family for its commitment to sustainable production and engagement with the local community.
Alba Moran, from Cross Country Farm Vets, which is part of the Vet Partners group, says: “The Hunts are an obvious choice for the award because the family has always put sustainability at the root of how it farms.
“They prioritise soil health, the strategic use of wormers and genetics, generate 85% of their electricity using a wind turbine and engage with the local community by running farm tours.”
The family has been at the farm since 1939, initially as tenants before buying it in 1953.
They have never shied away from making bold decisions and changing what they do, the latest being the switch to organic production.
This was a logical move, says Marcus Hunt, who farms with his father David and son Sam.
Marcus says: “Basically, we
Hunt family takes sustainability title
had been farming organically for about 15 years, but without being fully certified. The change has not been much of a shock to us.
“We felt we were not really getting the results we wanted from chucking fertiliser about. For the first couple of years, grass growth reduced a little bit, but it recovered and now we seem to have just as much grass as everyone else in autumn.
“We might not have as much as others in spring, but we still have enough – 1,600-1,800 tonnes – to fill the silage clamp every year.”
MARCUS HUNT
Rather than use nitrogen, they apply nitrogen fixing bacteria when the soil has warmed up in spring.
Marcus says: “We have always worked to get our soils right. In the past we used quite a lot of lime, minerals and trace elements, but now they are in balance.
“As a result, we have not used any nitrogen for 12 years and are concentrating on maximising the contribution made by the clover.”
To boost forage supplies, the family has started to use mixed swards which combine red and white clover, chicory and plantains, with Timothy and ryegrass.
With such a high reliance on grazing and grass silage, they had to have cattle which suited the system and have moved to a three-way cross of Fleckvieh, Norwegian Red and Normande.
That move coincided with a decision to replace a conventional parlour with milking robots as the family aimed to reduce the time and work taken to run the unit.
Sam says: “We had been milking our Meuse Rhine Issel cows through a 6:12 herringbone that was 30 years old and needed replacing. They were all quite big animals and had outgrown the parlour.
“We noticed they also tended to have low slung udders which would have made it difficult for them to use the robots.”
The family did some careful research before buying the first robot.
Travel
Sam adds: “We had to travel quite some distance to do that 10 years ago. We could see that it would also prevent cows standing around for three hours for milking. It just made sense.”
The first robot was built into a new cubicle building in 2010 and triggered wider changes, says Sam.
“We had to think about how we managed the herd and calves and how we organised the grazing. Because we are not in the parlour for so many hours every day, it gave us a chance to think about how we moved the farm forward and properly looked after the cows.
“When we put the first robot in,
The 50kW wind turbine, erected in 2015, provides 85% of the farms electricity. Farm facts
rCurrently some sexed Norwegian Red semen is being used to build numbers, with the target being a 100-cow fully closed herd rLast autumn, a select few cows were inseminated with Wagyu semen rAt housing, hygiene is maintained by the robotic sweepers, which apply a probiotic spray as they work rCows also receive a spray of the treatment to all four feet and their udder as they leave the milking robot rThe VetPartners dairy sustainability award recognises the adoption of innovative approaches to farming, which benefit the environment and community, as well as making good business sense; Buckwell Lodge was one of three finalists for the award
The nursing mothers rear calves outside for 14 weeks before weaning them off and entering the milking herd herself.
we always planned to add a second, because 70-80 cows was too many for a single robot and we have plans to expand the herd to 100 head.
“ e second shed, which we put up in 2021, is larger than the rst. We increased passage width from 4.5 metres to 5.5m, so cows have more space to move.”
Giving the ca le more room provided an instant bene t, Sam says.
Benefit
“We noticed we were ge ing more milk from the same number of animals and heifers especially seemed to bene t and yield be er.
“ e older cows occupy one
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Three generations of the Hunt family (left to right): Marcus, David and Sam.
half of the shed and the younger ones and heifers the other half.”
Separating the two halves reduces bullying. Farm records show the cows visit the robots on average 3.2 times a day and the heifers 3.4 times/day, with heifer yields being noticeably higher since the system was installed.
Yields now average 6,500-7,000 litres/head at 4.3% bu erfat and 3.65% protein, with milk going to Arla. eir current three-way cross suits their system well, says Marcus. “We are looking for a wellbuilt cow. We get the height of the Fleckvieh, the milking quality of the
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Norwegian Red and the bee ng contribution from the Normande.” at last trait is important as the beef from their 24-month-old nished animals goes via APB to Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.
In addition, they add more bee ng quality by using British Blue semen on selected older cows.
Good hygiene extends right across the farm, with careful pasture management meaning they have not used wormers for three years because they have broken the parasites’ life cycle.
Marcus says: “We do still use Huskvac and other routine vaccines, but by moving ca le regularly we avoid other diseases and problems.”
Cows calve outside from May through to September, which minimises disease risks.
Calves are reared in suckled groups. From every group of four cows they select one which acts as a nursing mother to her own and three other calves, while the other cows enter the milking herd. e nursing mother rears the calves outside for 14 weeks before weaning them o and entering the milking herd herself.
Sam says: “We have had a couple of cows join the milkers a er this period and instantly start to yield 40 litres milk/day, while also ge ing back in-calf very easily.” e herd is housed for as short a period as they can manage, typically November to March, despite the farm being on the sort of heavy Leicestershire clays which typically necessitates far longer housing periods.
Pastures are laid out in a radial pa ern from a central hub, on which the water trough for that eld is located, and from which woodchip surfaced walkways lead to the farmstead and milking robots.
Waterlogged
To avoid the risk of tracks becoming waterlogged, they are experimenting with planting willow strips beside them.
Willow roots are notorious for blocking eld drains, but in this situation they o er a double bene t, says Marcus. Firstly they soak up a lot of moisture and help ensure the tracks lie drier than they otherwise would.
Secondly, the Hunts intend to coppice the plantations every few years, using the woodchip to top up the walkways.
Towering over everything is their 50kW wind turbine, erected in 2015.
While it originally alienated local people, to the extent that the parish council objected to it at rst, it provided the perfect medium through which to connect with the community.
Marcus says: “We went out and talked about the plans with all our neighbours and hosted a number of farm walks. Once we had explained how the power would be used on-farm, they realised how bene cial it would be and people accepted it.”
Hosting those farm walks got them into the habit and they now run regular farm tours, including one for a vegan group.
Sam says: “I do not know if we converted any of them to meat eating overnight, but they did seem really interested in what we do and how we treat our ca le.
“We issued an open invite for people to visit us a er the recent Panorama programme. We want to show we have absolutely nothing to hide and invite them to come and see what we do.”
To help stop cow walkways becoming waterlogged, the Hunts are experimenting with planting willow strips besides them.
Pastures are laid out in a radial pattern from a central hub.
