Cockhaise Farm - Launch overview

Nearly 100 people joined online to get a thorough overview of Dan’s approach to organic regenerative farming.

Dan operates an autumn block calving herd of 294 Holstein Friesians weighing in at around 550kg, that currently achieve 6,000L per cow. "We used to achieve higher yields but fed more concentrate, so now our overall aim is to achieve an increase from forage and we see no reason why we can’t get back to achieving over 6,500l per cow as our herd is reaching full maturity."

In the session Dan also touched on other elements he will be focusing on over the next three years including finding the sweet spot for cow numbers, reducing instances of lameness, team building and continuing his improvement of soil health and herbal leys.

Impressively Dan operates an incredibly tight calving block with 95% of cows and heifers calved within 6 weeks and explained some of how he achieves this with his valued team.

"It's lots of small things. We started with the dry cows and improving conditions there. We looked at pre-service heats to get the dates right, and we worked hard at getting the nutrition spot on so they were always on an increasing growth pattern. We also watched cows bulling, timing service perfectly, and only on a standing heat. There are so many other factors, we tested all the straws with 1 in 10 being incorrect, and even used straw warmers too."

Over the hour webinar Dan fielded questions about his use of herbal leys, self-feed silage clamps, the benefits of the use of trees on pastures and getting the most from forage.

To find out more about Dan’s operations, his aim to create a ‘triple-win’ system and his experiences of organic farming, catch up on the full webinar now.