This is the second of a number of articles written specifically about individual farms, their enterprises and their reliance on home grown forage.

David and Liz Nicholls (DC & EF Nicholls), farm at Feadon Farm, Portreath, in Cornwall, where they have been tenants for the last five years and have a further two years of their FBT (Farm Business Tenancy) to run - their landlords being Duchy Colleges. The farm is 96 acres with a further 34 acres being rented from a local farmer.

Their main farming enterprise is their herd of 70 cows, the income of which is supplemented somewhat by "diversification" - David's contracting business which specialises in crimped grain, silage operations, cultivations and slurry disposal, and Liz, working alongside her mum at the recently converted Tregedna Farm Lodge near Falmouth where they have space for 24 beds, conference/training facilities, plus weddings and self catering parties.

The herd, which calves all year round, is currently averaging around 6,800 litres, all of which is sold to Dairy Crest who pay a premium for milk quality and with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity, some of the herd replacements have tended to be Guernseys rather than the traditional "Black and Whites".

Maize and grass silage are fed on a 50/50 basis totalling 54 kgs per cow per day or 17.8 kgs of Dry Matter plus 4.5 kgs per cow per day of crimped grain. By feeding a high level of crimped grain throughout the winter, David has seen improvements in milk quality, cow condition and fertility and is convinced that this is as a result of the high energy content of the grain.

Most of the grain is home grown, can be either wheat or barley depending on rotations, with the contracting side of the business allowing crimping to take place on farm. Bought-in feeds total1100 kgs p.a. and are supplied by Duchy Blends from Cornwall Farmers Ltd. This takes the form of two concentrates - First Blend, which is 21% protein and 13.7 ME and No.55 Milk Magic plus Megalac, which is 18% protein and 13.2 ME. Over the past year, milk quality has averaged 3.95 Butterfats and 3.39 Protein.

With Feadon being on the coast, the farm tends to dry out quite quickly during the summer months, so a reliable crop was sought in order to complement grass. David tried a number of options, including fodder beet, but as the maturity has improved greatly over the years, he found that maize was the best option and this year is growing 34 acres - all the off rented land.

With seasons being a little temperamental, both yields and maturity can vary a lot, but on average, he has achieved five tonnes of DM per acre and 30% starch and this year is growing the variety Crown as it has consistently given him the best combination of yield and earliness.

David is also quick to point out, along with a lot of farmers, that maize is not a cheap crop to grow, but if done correctly, i.e. get the pH right, apply the appropriate fertiliser, ensure a good seedbed and sow the best variety for the conditions, maize actually works out at being one of the cheapest things that they grow!

I have highlighted both maize and crimped grain and they really do have an extremely important role to play on Feadon Farm. But it is a support role to the most important crop of the lot - grass - and both David and Liz are adamant that although the management might have been a little "questionable" in the past, grass is, and must continue to be treated as a CROP, and managed with an arable mentality.

Some years ago, they conducted their own on-farm trial, albeit one field, where they seeded one half of the field with their traditional mixture, with the other half being sown with a high population of tetraploids. The cows won them over by preferentially grazing the high tetraploid half and ever since, David has consistently used the Monarch mixture Multicut, which is a four to five year grazing and cutting ley and contains 60% Tetraploids.

David immediately noticed a big improvement in sugar levels, which was confirmed by regular use of a Refractometer where a small sample of grass was squeezed through a garlic press onto the machine. The resultant quality was excellent as were the yields, with 10 tonnes per acre being regularly achieved with the first cut.

Fertiliser policy usually kicks off with two bags per acre across all the grassland of 26.13.0, followed by three bags per acre of New 52 - 21.8.11 on all the cutting ground. This works out at 115 units of 'N' for the first cut with 88 units being applied for the second cut by way of four bags per acre of After Cut with Sulphur. Both yield and quality of silage have been improved by the application of sulphur, which was confirmed last year with a small trial.

Running a business which includes a 70-cow dairy herd, an agricultural contracting business and recently started - Tregedna Farm Holidays, plus a family - the work load is quite staggering and here, David is keen to highlight the support and agronomic advice that he receives from his major supplier - Cornwall Farmers.

With milk from forage being 60% and son Tom recently starting work on the farm, their goal is to maintain milk quality but work for a 5% yield improvement and this, says David, must come from forage.

Good home grown forage really is the key to success on this farm!