UK: AHDB updates characteristics of top-performing dairy farms analysis

Cow Milk

Dairy

United Kingdom

Market & Price Trends

Innovation & Technology

Published Mar 22, 2024

Tridge summary

The most successful dairy farmers in the UK earn over £120,000 more annually than the lower half of dairy farms by maintaining low costs without compromising on output or milk quality. They maximize output per hectare, focus solely on dairy farming, and produce the specific components required by their milk processor. These top-performing farmers have a clear understanding of their objectives, monitor key performance indicators closely, and are open to making changes to enhance performance. Despite the financial benefits, they also find farming to be a fulfilling lifestyle.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Financially top-quartile dairy farmers, typically make over £120,000 per year more than the bottom 50% of dairy farms. With falling milk prices and consolidation in farm numbers understanding how to optimise business performance is more critical than ever. The report identifies common actions that a dairy farmer might take to become among the best performers. The full report can be found here: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TOP-PERFORMING DAIRY FARMS IN THE UK – 2024 UPDATE Top performing dairy farmers keep costs at a minimum without impacting output or milk quality. This is a top imperative for commodity farming and in many respects, the other actions feed into this one crucial driver of financial performance. As margins are tight maximise output. This is not per cow necessarily, as their numbers can be increased, but per hectare. Whilst there will be an upper limit, higher performers in general get more farming output from each productive hectare, usually with higher stocking rates. ...

Source: Ahdb