Maximising the use of farm forage resources and attention to detail have resulted in Cheshire dairy farmer, Adrian Smith, being awarded Forage Manger of the Year in this year’s Farm Business Cream Awards.

Mr Smith was announced as the winner last month at the Cream Awards presentation evening, held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. The event was attended by 400 dairy industry guests including NFU president Meurig Raymond.

Mr Smith runs Brook House Farm, situated near Middlewich in Cheshire, which is run with the help of three full time members of staff and has a herd of 210 milkers. Calving takes place year-round and cows are producing an average of 8,600 litres – 5,300 of which are obtained from forage.

“I was really pleased to be shortlisted as a finalist in the awards,” said Mr Smith. “To find out that I had won the category was fantastic and reflects all the hard work that my team put into producing as much milk from forage as possible”.

“Around 62% of our milk comes from forage and I am always trying to increase this figure,” continued Mr Smith. “For me, the focus isn’t on increasing yields but getting more from my forage resources.”

During the spring and summer months, Mr Smith operates a paddock grazing system, with cows being turned out to fresh paddocks after every milking.

In the autumn and winter, cows are fed a pellet compound feed supplied by ForFarmers, as well as a simple mix of homegrown maize and silage.

One of the farm’s key focuses is to produce the best quality silage possible, regularly achieving silage protein contents above 17% and DM of 40%.  

“Some think that the key to good silage is using a specific grass type or additive,” said Mr Smith. “However, there are so many elements that go into making good silage; improving lots of different things by 1% will have more benefit that just focusing on one area.”

To ensure supplies of high quality silage, leys are regularly reseeded, the content of clamps carefully recorded, and mineral analysis of silage samples are taken throughout the year.

“No forage resource is wasted on the farm,” continued Mr Smith. “I don’t top fields and make sure that all grass is mown and bailed. Depending on its composition and quality, we will find an appropriate use for it somewhere in the herd.”

Mr Smith works closely with his local ForFarmers feed specialist Nick Johns, who has helped the farm maximise their milk production from forage.

“Nick has been great to work with,” concluded Mr Smith. “He understands exactly what I am trying to achieve on the farm and we are constantly challenging each other to come up with new ideas and make things even more efficient.”