There is a well known saying, 'no pain, no gain' and that will be ringing true in the minds of Milk Link’s 1,600 producers, who are on the brink of reaping just reward for 12 years of loyalty and investment.Richard Knowles, 41, Honkley Farm, Burton Rossett, Wrexham
FIVE years ago Richard Knowles of Wrexham, Clywd, was thrown in at the deep end when his brother decided he wanted to farm in New Zealand. He went from tractor driver to cowman overnight.
Over that time, he has not only successfully fought a serious cell count problem but, when his landlord gave him just 18 months notice to vacate the farm, he took the decision to build a completely new set of buildings on a green site at home.
Today, he keeps 211 cows and is currently milking 186. He has 60.7 hectares (150 acres) of owned land and rents a further 161.8 hectares (400 acres).
Dairy Herd performance to March 2009:
- Herd size: 196
- Yield per cow (l): 7,671
- Feed rate per litre (kg/l): 0.33
- Margin over purchased feed per cow (£): 1,730
- Margin over purchased feed per litre (p): 22.56
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