When the Ickes came to the 124-acre farm they brought 80 cows and four children. Now they farm 475 acres, have plans to increase the herd to around 400, and sons Richard and Simon are actively involved in the business. "When we came here we were ableto manage with 80 Friesians," recounts Martyn Icke. "The objective was to maximise yields from forage and we were producing around 6500 litres per cow with 4900 from forage, but with Richard and Simon wanting to come into the business we had to look to increase numbers. "We initially expanded to 150 and in 2005 bought some extra land and a herd of cows from a neighbour to push numbers to 250. We are now milking 280 cows and this year we will be expanding two sheds which will allow us to move towards 400cows." As well as expanding numbers the Icke's have totally changed their management system, moving away from an emphasis on milk from forage and instead focusing on increasing yields. The cows are now housed all-year-round and since 2009 have been milked three times daily, with yields now averaging 11,500 litres.
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