A LIVESTOCK adviser from Knutsford has been shortlisted for one of the top awards in British agriculture.

Irish-born David Howard, head of dairy services at Wynnstay Agriculture, an advisory and supplier group in Powys, Wales, is one of three contenders for the Livestock Adviser of the Year honour.

The category is one of 19 in the annual ‘Farmers Weekly’ Awards with 44 innovative farmers, entrepreneurial contractors, expert consultants and students in contention.

READ > Knutsford Porsche driver clocked speeding on M6 banned from road

Judging is now taking place and the category winners – as well as the overall winner of the coveted Farmer of the Year Award – will be named at a ceremony in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on October 3.

David comes from Co Cork in southern Ireland and has lived in Knutsford for 10 years.

He shares his home with his wife, Susannah and three children, Nancy, five, Vincent, three and seven-month-old Daphne.

He gives dairy farmer clients advice on nutrition, herd health, forage and cropping, milk production and building design.

Being shortlisted for the livestock category award, he said, was an honour.

He explained that for farms to achieve environmental sustainability, their businesses must be financially sustainable first, by receiving a fair price for the food they produce.

David is now helping the 400-strong dairy herd at Harper Adams University in Shropshire to achieve high forage-feeding rates on a path towards more sustainable milk production.

He has been working with the herd since 2023 and has built on the university’s sustainability credentials, which include going soya-free five to six years ago.

David has helped reach a high percentage of forage, on a dry matter basis, using a mix of grass, maize and lucerne silage, with the majority coming from maize, but with lucerne giving a protein boost.

“We are growing the forage mix up to 65 per cent and limiting concentrate use as we need every herd to be making a profit in the dairy sector,” he said.

The forage silage proportion is made up of 63 per cent maize and the rest from grass and lucerne.

David said the average UK dairy herd is producing 3,000 litres a cow a year of milk from forage.

But the Harper herd is touching 6,000 litres.

“This is especially good as the herd is indoors with no access to fresh grass,” he said.

He has also guided the herd towards three-times-a-day milking from April 2024, which has pushed yields up by 2,500 litres to 11,400 litres a cow a year, as part of his forage-for-profit approach to improve sustainability.

Early last September, he spotted a fall in yields during a hot spell, but it was not linked to a drop in overall yield consumption.

It was due to the cows eating in the cooler early mornings and late afternoons instead of through the day to give the best milk output.

“This prompted us to look to cool the cows and install fans, and make sure we were providing plenty of fresh water,” he said.

Out of David’s 26 dairy clients, about half have now eliminated soya from the diet for sustainability reasons.

“The fastest thing you can do to reduce carbon is cut soya,” he said, adding that he biggest factor towards this aim after cutting out soya has been the increased use of forage.

David has been a livestock adviser for 18 years.