Shropshire Farming Talk: Walford College

The cows have nearly all calved with over 170 cows now calved. The calving block has stayed very focused which will continue to help our breeding management going forward.

This will also help our management of the calves and replacement heifers.

We achieved the last silage cut, just before the weather turned and now have all of our essential winter forage in the clamp or wrapped. The calves have been developing extremely well and have all met their target weights.

We have been reviewing our current grazing platforms and linking with a new satellite monitoring system to map our grass growth and performance. The individual cow tags have been performing really well and helped us reduce feeding and veterinary costs through early interventions and targeted rationing.

The current grazing platforms have increased grazing efficiency and grass performance. We are currently reviewing the potential benefits of expanding the grazing platforms to further improve the milk from forage ratios.

The students continue to be an excellent support during calving. They attend duties from 5.00 in the morning and several groups of students spend additional afternoon sessions on the farm to improve their skills and confidence.

We have been keeping a very close eye on the milk price. We had a rise in August which was needed. We are expecting another 2 pence per litre rise in December which will make a significant difference to our income if this can be sustained.

The next steps for the farm team will be preparing for breeding with the support of the LIC and Cogent teams and Shropshire Farm Vets.

The new cubicle sheds and bedding established at the end of last year will be very welcome as the extra cow numbers put pressure on over winter housing costs.

The team have attended shows and events over summer with one of our lecturers continuing to develop their knowledge and skills with the Royal Welsh Rural Leadership Programme.

We have been awarded additional government funding to secure additional resources to support our level 3 T level students. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to further develop our curriculum resources for students. Our students achieved extremely well last year and we are expecting our current students to do even better.

Bronwen Bray, Walford College