Through my volunteering experience with the RHET, I had the opportunity to visit Clayland’s dairy farm. I was shadowing an experienced RHET project coordinator and farmer. There were two school visits who attended; both in the 14 to 15 age group. The farmer and volunteer took turns in educating the children about the farm; they did so in a step-by-step format. The cows were housed together by those of same age and stage of pregnancy; as early as birth. The farmer had explained to the group that the wellbeing of the animals is their top priority. Technology has proved advantageous in dairy farming: through these advances in technology, they can use a ‘fitbit’ like collar on the cows, which allows the farmers to track the health of the herd and make sure they are fed adequately. This technology can help to identify illness or disease, which helps to prevent the spread of disease.
In terms of the feed for the herd, it is a mix of hay, grass, and grains. A nutritionist would work with the farmer to calculate the nutritional requirements of the feed by age. Over the seasons and the cow’s life stage feed can change, during the winter they tend to eat silage, which is fermented grass and hay; and over the summer they can roam and feed on open pastures. During pregnancy, the feed will be more nutritionally dense to meet their needs.
The lifecycle of the cows was explained as we were taken through each of the age groups. The calves when just born need to be fed colostrum, which is the milk extracted from the mother just before giving birth. We were told the importance of giving this milk as quickly as possible, as it is rich in immunity and antioxidants, which depletes as time goes on. The cow is then separated from the mother and given a passport and tag, which will stay with them for life. They will stay on a milk diet for at least a 6-week period, after which it is then weaned onto solid foods. Adult cows will typically eat roughly 50 kg of feed per day and can have as much as three times this amount of water!
The farm also has a GPS fertiliser spreader, which can accurately calculate the required fertiliser needed for the farm. This benefits the farm by reducing costs, improving accuracy and limiting pesticide use. Furthermore, they have an anaerobic digester; this is beneficial for recycling waste products on the farm. It works by combining excess waste, such as animal faeces and water waste, and creating products such as electricity, compost and fertiliser liquid. The electricity can be used to power the farm and be connected to the grid to supply local towns and villages; the compost and liquid can then be added to the slurry storage tanks for fertilising the fields.
Finally, we were shown where the cows are taken to be milked in an area known as the ‘milking shed’, this process tends to happen twice per day. Milk produced by their cows can amount to 30 liters of milk per day. After the milk is extracted, it goes into a storage tank, which is emptied daily and transported to a nearby facility to be pasturised and distributed.
Written by Grace McCallum, RHET Volunteer Placement