Survey for Nuffield Farming Scholarship 'Removing Barriers to Large Scale Dairy Farming'

Thanks for taking part in this survey. There are 20 questions and it should take about 15 minutes maximum. First of all, please provide some details about your farm....

Question Title

1. What was your average milk production over the past 12 months?

Average number of cows

Average litres per cow

Question Title

2. How many times a day milking was this on?

Mostly 1x

Mostly 2x

Mostly 3x

Question Title

3. Which of the following best describes your policy as regards housing and grazing your herd?

Pretty much house all the cows year round

House in the winter; house high yielders during the summer but the others are out

House all cows in the winter and graze them all in the summer

They're outside all year

Other (please specify)

Question Title

4. Why? (please choose most relevant option)

It's the cheapest way for us to do it

It suits our milk contract

It suits our farm and our lifestyle

Availability of land

It's the best way to look after the cows

Other (please specify)

Question Title

5. Which statement below best describes your calving policy?

Aiming for year-round calving

Spring-based

Autumn-based

Other (please specify)

Question Title

6. What is your annual replacement %?

Question Title

7. What is the most pressing welfare issue on your farm?

Mastitis

Lameness

Fertility

Calf mortality

Cow mortality

Metabolic disorders

LDA incidence

Other (please specify)

Question Title

8. How are you addressing this? (please answer as many as relevant)

Bedding/cubicles

Heat detection

Transition cow management

Training

Floor surfaces/tracks

Foot trimming

Close working with vet

Milking routine

Breeding choices

Other (please specify)

A couple of questions about selling your milk...

Question Title

9. What type of milk contract are you on?

Direct supply of liquid milk on an aligned contract

Supply of liquid milk on an unaligned contract

Cheese contract

Non-cheese dairy product contract

Commodity contract

We process our own as part of the same business

Other (please specify)

Now a bit about strategy and business development...

Question Title

10. What are your broad plans for your farm business over the next few years?

Expand the dairy farming part of the business

Keep the dairy farming part of the business at its current level

Scale back or get rid of the dairy farming part of the business and focus on other areas

Question Title

11. Ignoring the current milk price situation, if your farming business was making reasonable profits, would you mainly:

Increase cow numbers

Grow the business in another way

Make necessary investments for regulation or welfare

Reduce the debt

Enjoy a better lifestyle/other non-farming pursuits or investments

Other (please specify)

Question Title

12. If you did decide to increase cow numbers, which of the following best describes the reason for this?

It's the best way to grow the business

We already have a market for extra milk

We already have the resources

Not applicable

It's the only way to keep going in dairy farming

Other (please specify)

Question Title

13. Do you actually plan to expand your cow numbers within the next 12 months?

Yes

If yes, by how many?

Question Title

14. How confident on a scale of 1-5 would you feel about expanding cow numbers at the moment? (1=not at all, 5=very)

Question Title

15. Do you use or have any of the following in place on your farm? (Please tick all those that apply)

Herd health plan (in conjunction with vet)

Crop nutrient management plan eg PLANET

Slurry injection or trailing application rather than spreading or irrigation

Regular mobility scoring (at least once per fortnight) eg DairyCo

Specific mastitis management strategy eg Mastitis Management Plan

Outsourced heat detection and breeding service eg Genus RMS

Environmental stewardship scheme eg HLS/ELS, LEAF

Regular open days or visits for local groups

Regular communication with local community eg letters, visits, meetings

About opportunities and challenges...

Question Title

16. What are the BIGGEST issues you think your plans for the dairy enterprise will face over the next few years? (please select only three)

Perception issues among communities and public

Finding capital

Competition from other dairy farms

TB/other diseases

Succession

Rising costs

Land availability

Finding good staff

Regulation

Issues with planning applications

Poor milk price/contracts

Other (please specify)

Question Title

17. Which of the following are the MAIN opportunities for your dairy business over the next few years? (please select only three)

Growing global demand for dairy

Opportunities in specific markets

Falling producer numbers

Cheap finance

Economies of scale

New ideas, developments and/or technology

Other (please specify)

About large scale dairy farming...

Question Title

18. What number of cows is needed for a farm to become a 'mega-dairy' in the eyes of the public and pressure groups?

More than 200

More than 500

More than 1000

It's not about size, it's about system

Other (please specify)

Question Title

19. Please tick any of the statements below that you agree with. Large scale dairies are...

... acceptable within a diverse dairy farming system mix

... likely to take over the whole industry

... a threat to my business

... important if the UK is to retain its milk producing capacity

... damaging to the public's perception of dairy farming

... all the negative things they've been made out to be

... capable of being presented in a more positive light

... splitting the industry apart

... exciting

... inevitable

... a big fuss about nothing

Question Title

20. Finally, would you be happy to be contacted by me with more questions? Confidentiality assured! And please feel free to add any comments you'd like to make

Yes

If yes, please give name, position and either phone number or email address. Also add any comments. Thanks!