Note from Matt....
It's been a busy few weeks for the RABDF team, with two major events taking place. The first was the inaugural Down to Earth event hosted by council member Tim Downes at his farm in Shropshire. We had almost 1,700 visitors through the gate, which shows farmers want to learn more about regenerative farming principles.
The event will return next year, but where and when are still to be confirmed. If you are on a regenerative farming journey and would be keen to host next year's event, get in touch by emailing matthew.knight@rabdf.co.uk.
The second event was the Gold Cup Open Day at Albyns Farm in Essex, courtesy of the 2020 winners, the Torrance family. Despite being the only dairy farm in Essex, hundreds of farmers flocked to see this award-winning herd in action.
The Curtismill herd owned by the Torrance's is ranked in the top 1% of herds on £PLI, with tremendous health, welfare and production. The event focussed on the Road to Net Zero. It included talks on breeding the right cow, and having the correct management and conditions to enable cows to express their genetic potential and feeding to reduce emissions.
Co-Products make up a significant proportion of cow diets at Albyns Farm and, interestingly, are virtually all very low carbon plant-based products, as the primary product used in the human food chain takes responsibility for the carbon. You can read more from the Open Day on our website at https://www.rabdf.co.uk/gold-cup-comp
Whilst optimism is strong in the dairy sector, with milk prices continuing to rise, there isn't time to rest on your laurels. With a plethora of grants being announced by the government recently, it's worth looking to see whether any may be suitable to help bring subsidised improvements into your farming system.
Grants announced include:
Sustainable Farming Initiative- Through the SFI, farmers will be paid for looking after the natural environment in the course of their farming. This initial offer will pay farmers for taking care of their soil or assessing the condition of moorland. Those with no other agri-environment agreements in place can apply online immediately, while all others must notify the RPA of their wish to apply. More can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sustainable-farming-incentive-guidance#eligibility-for-an-sfi-standards-agreement
Farming Investment Fund – grants of up to £300,000 to enable farmers to purchase equipment to process, diversify and add value to their produce after harvest or rearing.
Slurry Infrastructure Grant- from this autumn, landowners and tenant farmers in England with less than six months' storage will be eligible to apply for a grant ranging from £25,000 to £250,000. This can be used to help replace, build new or expand existing slurry stores to provide six months of storage.
Please also keep posted on our website for the latest dairy news at rabdf.co.uk
All the best,
Matt