We are delighted that one of our clients, John Vickers, has been shortlisted for the VetPartners Sustainable Beef Farm of the Year award for 2024. John and his family are forward thinking, proactive, and run their farm with extremely high standards of welfare and disease health status. They are always looking for ways to improve while engaging with the local community.
They take a keen interest in where they can try new things, for example co-grazing cattle and sheep to reduce the worm burden and need for anthelmintics. Their ethos is that profitably and welfare go hand in hand. They want to ensure all animals are well bred, well fed and well cared for to give them the best chance of performing to their best. This means a more productive and profitable farm system which is ultimately more sustainable.
Farm facts
> 110 head of Limousin suckler cows including some Blues and Hereford crosses plus 360 Masham, Dalesbred and Suffolk cross ewes
> Planted over 3,500m of new hedge with a new stretch being added each year plus hundreds of additional trees planted over past 15 years
> 30 years of being in Countryside Stewardship schemes, regularly replacing grass leys to help build soil fertility and structure
> Farm energy provided by a 250KW ground solar system with the majority of the energy created going back into the grid
> Hosting an annual open day for the public, supported by their vet team to help aid positive discussion around farming
> All cattle are slaughtered locally and sold through their own butchers shop “Bridge67” in Kibworth, keeping production miles to an absolute minimum and guaranteeing a quality product for their client base
The farm work closely with the CCFV team to improve welfare through the following measures:
> The herd is accredited free of BVD, they vaccinate for Leptospirosis and IBR and blood test every breeding animal to monitor for Johnes every 6 months
> Neospora testing occurs annually and positives are culled
> Before each breeding block, pelvic scoring is performed on the heifers to reduce calving difficulties and in turn reduce the herds calving interval.
> Calves born per 100 cows/heifers served sits at 96%.
> Heifers are synchronised and served to AI for first service, ensuring a tight block of less than 12 weeks whilst improving the genetics within the herd
Vote using the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MQGGJXQ
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