Producing milk off gravel

摘要

Forget about trying to get blood out of a stone - James 'Bonzo' Robertson can produce milk from gravel. The 120ha that he and his wife, Julia, farm near Ellesmere is predominantly North Shropshire gravel, with 60ha of pure gravel banks, 24ha level sandy loam and 36ha of gently undulating sandy gravel And with an April to September rainfall of just 228mm, drought-prone is an understatement for this farm. In spite of these challenges, Bonzo hasn't given up entirely on grass, Although 36ha of maize aregrown to provide 70% of the forage dry matter, 60ha of permanent pasture and 24ha of 3-5 year leys are managed to support summer grazing for a 220-cow flying herd, as well as yield 22t/ha of silage at first cut. It is an ongoing battle and at second cutthis year the grass was in drought state and output dropped to just 10r/ha.