Lyegrove FarmAn Organic Dairy & Arable Farm In The Cotswolds

Farmed Area•Lyegrove extends to 1050acres

- 880acres rented on an AHA agreement with the Beaufort Estate-170acres owned in one block 6miles to the south of Lyegrove

•240 dairy cows on an all year round calving system

•170acres of HLS scheme, which includes wild flower margins and wild bird seed feeding mixes.

•Mainly thin Cotswold Brash soils, with a small area of heavy deep clay.

Cropping Rotation7yr Rotation

3yrs Legume (Clover or Lucerne)

Winter Wheat

Spring Barley

Pea’s

Winter/Spring Oats

CroppingRed Clover

- Yields on average 25tons of Fresh Weight/ha/yr-Requires P & K applications to maintain its yields and not

deplete soil indices.

Lucerne- Yields on average 20tons of Fresh Weight/ha/yr-Requires P & K applications to maintain its yields and not

deplete soil indices.

CroppingWheat

- Yields on average 4tons/ha-Wild Oats and Couch are the main problems especially

growing for a seed contract

Peas- Yields on average 3tons/ha-Source of on farm protein if they fail seed contract

specification-Weeds can help to hold them up for combining

• Herd Size: 240• -Breeding is Holstein/Fresian, with a trial bunch of 13 pure Fleckviehs

• Young stock-All dairy replacements reared on farm, we aim for a 24-26 month

calving in age of which 72% of the heifers achieve.

• Calving index: 385days• Average Yield: 8000• Average Conc: 0.29kgs/litre• Butterfat: 3.80• Protein: 3.14• SCC 153• Milk Buyer: Dairy Crest Direct

Organic Dairy Herd

Being an Organic Producer• Reasons for Converting to Organic ?

-Healthy working environment-Challenge-Profitability

• Biggest lessons learnt from being Organic ?-Ability of red clover and lucerne to grow consistently on our thin

drought prone soil-Energy being a major limiting factor in the dairy herd-Market place restrictions, import and export

Future of Organic Farmingo Profitability

o Sustainability

o Environmental Impact

o Market place position