A MIDDLEWICH dairy farmer has won a regional award, presented to him at the Farmers Club in London on Thursday.

Adrian Smith, of Brook House Farm, was named northern area winning finalist of the ForFarmers Excellence in Farming Efficiency award.

Farming in partnership with his wife and son, he milks 200 Holstein cows across 360 acres.

Adrian said: “The whole farm pivots around grass and forage quality.

“We have rented land in 11 different farming agreements, over six miles apart, but constant monitoring and assessment of the land and the crop it produces leads to great results.

“When we started off we couldn’t afford to buy a feeder wagon, even though I desperately wanted one.

“Instead we had to focus on getting the best possible results from the resources we had on farm, and over time I’ve come to realise that this is the most efficient way for us to feed our dairy cows.”

Adrian’s cows produce 5,500 litres from forage, but he is continuing to innovate.

He added: “We’re aiming to get another 150 litres per cow from forage this year and I don’t think that 6,000 litres is unachievable in the future.”

Between 20 and 25 per cent of silage ground and 12 per cent of the grazing area at Brook House Farm is reseeded each year.

Adrian analyses soil and forages regularly, and monitors forage palatability and intakes. The benchmark is a minimum of 16kg forage dry matter intake in winter.

Nick Johns, Adrian’s ForFarmers account manager, said: “Adrian’s approach has always been attention to detail in all aspects of grass and forage production and storage.

“He has a ‘clamp map’ which outlines where grass from specific fields is in the clamp. This way poor fields can be identified at feeding out and targeted for reseeding.”