Working Dairy Farm

The cow’s health and welfare has always been taken very seriously at Hardwick Farm. For instance, 40% of the floor in the cowshed has a soft rubber carpet to not only increase the cow’s comfort but also to minimize foot problems. Their feet are bathed weekly – this helps keep their feet in good condition – whilst all four feet are trimmed at drying off time to eliminate any lameness issues at the next lactation. They are bedded on sterile recycled newspaper – minimising udder problems – and are vaccinated annually. All their feed is traceable and grown on our farm (apart from a small amount of GM-free concentrate to ensure a balanced diet) and they have three forages consisting of maize silage, grass silage plus whole crop wheat. Our calves are grown on straw and concentrates.

On St David’s Day 2004, to further enhance our cow’s health and welfare, we decided to implement a ‘Free to Choose’ programme, installing voluntary milking units. Our cows were now free to choose when they were milked. How? Well, simply, the cow instinctively knows when she wants to be milked and soon learns to take herself to the milking unit. When the cow enters the unit her teats are brushed twice with disinfected cleaning rollers. Each cup is then put on one at a time and as each quarter finishes milking that individual cup is removed. When milking is completed the teats are disinfected and cups washed and blown dry ready for the next cow. The milk itself is passed through a milk quality control box which checks for impurities.

Units of this sort allow cows to be milked far more naturally than conventional milking machines.  The cows at Hardwick Farm visit their unit on average 2.6 times a day with higher yielding cows visiting up to 5 times. However, if a cow visits more often than needed, the unity will automatically release her without being milked. If a cow fails to milk we are alerted. After visiting the unit the cows are free to go back to the field. In wet winters they are free to stay indoors.

We keep full and detailed records for each individual cow, from her birth on the farm to the day she leaves, and this includes any vet visits or treatment. We can trace every cow back through several generations and the bulls they were sired by. We use 16 traits to match individual cows to individual bulls thereby ensuring a continually improving herd. Thirty heifers a year are grown to go into the dairy herd, calving at about two to two-and-half years of age depending on size.

The health and welfare of our cows is of supreme importance to us. On the farm we endeavour to use the minimum of bought-in fertilizer. Twenty-five per cent of our soil is tested every year, i.e. the whole farm is tested on a four-year cycle. We are members of an environmental scheme – Tir Cynnal – the aim of which is to protect the soil, water and air quality of the farm and to maintain its wildlife habitats. If embraced properly it's a real benefit to the farmer as well as the countryside.

All of this has one aim, a system that provides our animals with the utmost welfare where they are free to choose their own daily routine. They are gentle and curious creatures and we treat them with the utmost care, providing them with a relaxed and stress free environment.  Their lifestyle is self-determined and akin to life in a natural habitat. This means that they can eat, sleep, exercise and even be milked according to each cow’s individual requirements.