Changing from a low input/low output system to a high input/high output system has allowed the Yorkshire-based Barker family to more than double their margins, and pick up some awards along the way. Well bred, high yielding cows do not need complicated management. Keeping it simple has managed to produce a herd average in excess of 8,000 litres and margins of more than ￡1,500 a cow for Yorkshireman George Barker, who together with his wife Mollie and son Neil, runs the Folly herd of 126 pedigree Holsteins near Northallerton. That performance is achieved on just twice a day milking from a system of self-feed silage plus concentrates: "If my machinery costs go up this year, it's because I've put up a new wire for the silage clamp," says George of his straightforward approach for 'an easy life'.
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