Dairy
Post weaned calves, youngstock, stores or finishing cattle our beef range means you will be feeding the right product every time.
GLW Feeds know the score - and this makes them easy to work with. I value our relationship, because they’re in it for the long haul and always look for the best outcomes over time - with hugely positive results.
Mark E Smith
”Farm Profile
- Oak Lodge Dairy Farm, Leicestershire
- Herd: 180 Holstein x Fresian milking cows, all year round calving
- System: 3 Lely Robots
- Feeds: Grass/maize silages, straights, minerals, and robot response nuts + Lift Off fed in robots
- Youngstock reared on the farm
- Mixed herd
In Mark Lovatt’s own words:
“The cow is God, SHE gets what SHE wants.”
With generations of experience behind him at Oak Lodge Farm, Mark knows more than most the resilience and hard graft it takes to make a success of dairy farming, and the difference a simple – but extremely effective – feeding system can make to his profits.
The challenge
We started working with Mark at a crucial turning point; he’d taken over the management of the farm from his Dad and was faced with modernising the outdated parlour and TMR feeding system. He knew that to keep ahead of the volatile dairy market, a revamp was in order. We were delighted to step into the breach alongside Mark and his family, with the right guidance, tools and expertise to keep him moving in the right direction.
What did we do?
In July 2019, we retrofitted three new robots into Mark’s existing sheds, extending the outbuildings and knocking down walls with air movement as a top priority. With the right equipment in place, our management team and expert nutritionist worked closely with Mark to find the ‘nutritional sweet spot’ for his herd. Hats off to Mark and his team who embraced the changes with true farmer’s grit and determination, including the introduction of feeding nuts to cows! A bit of simple training helped them to get to grips with the new system and Mark reports that they’re now running smoothly.
What was the result?
Since the installation of the robots and moving to the pTMR and compound feed, Mark has seen a 30% increase in yield. Historically, his cows were averaging 30L/day and the latest results show 37/38L/day, achieving a target output of around 2000L/day per robot.
Mark’s new working environment has improved the lying area, stand space, cow flow, automatic scraping, lighting, air movement and quality. Along with the improved yield, the whole GLW Feeds package has resulted in Mark’s own words, as: “Calm cows, easy to work with.”