Join The Farmer Network on Thursday 24th October at High House, Egremont CA22 2PY, to look at ways in which farmers can make better use of what their farm can produce, whilst saving money at the same time.
Hosts, Terry, Eileen and Thomas Dixon will lead a farm walk and discussions to look at their approach to making their business as resilient as possible and how they have put their ideas into practice. James Webster, farm business consultant will also be on hand to discuss how to assess business options available to you and selecting the best ideas to take forward.
Rosie Law from Catchment Sensitive Farming will lead a tour of the slurry separation system at High House including the storage of both the solid and liquid parts. Rosie will look at how both of these parts can be used to the best advantage for the farm budget, and as a consequence reduce the impact the farm has on the environment in terms of water and air quality. She will also look at how to obtain grant funding and free advisory visits from CSF.
The Dixon family partnership farm 800 acres with a forage-based, autumn-calving 220 strong cow dairy herd. The herd is made up of Viking Red, Holstein and Montbeliard crosses on a rotational grazing system for the past 2 years, with grass silage and straights TMR. They have a slurry separator, drying the solids for bedding, and have invested in a roofed midden and covered lagoons to avoid pollution of watercourses and to fit in with new legislation on air quality. The family have made good use of the grants available to try and make their business as resilient as possible.
Alongside the dairy herd there are a number of other farm–based enterprises. These include short-rotation willow coppice, cereals, 50KW Solar Panels, an 11 KW Wind Turbine, a 1 Mega Watt Biomass Boiler, a small stone business, plus grass and muck drying, managing mature woodland and a 40 acre SSSI bog.
Kate Gascoyne of The Farmer Network said: “The main aim of this on farm event is for farmers to look at how the Dixon’s have managed to maximise production with the least inputs. Having the opportunity to talk with Terry, Eileen and Thomas, along with professionals, on the day will allow farmers to consider the possibilities of putting some of these things in to practice on their own farms.”
Lunch will be served at the meeting.
For more information or to book a place, please contact the Farmer Network on
Tel: 01768 868615, Text: 07714 187034 or email: [email protected]
This workshop is part of the Cumbria Growth Catalyst Programme funded by Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership utilising support from Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.
