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Karen Halton

Halton Farm, Congleton, Cheshire

  • Farm size: 240ha tenanted
  • Annual rainfall: 1,000mm
  • Soil type: Clay loams

A good genetic mix is helping the herd achieve high health, improved yields and a pregnancy rate of 21 days at Halton Farm. About 25% of milk is sold direct, with the remainder sold through a broker. Multispecies leys and a one-day paddock system help maintain soil nutrient levels, and hybrid rye is grown on 10ha to provide quality feed for dry cows. Cover crops have been added to the rotation after the maize to reduce nutrient leaching and run-off.

Transition goals: 

  • Recruit and retain the right staff
  • Maintain animal health and welfare
  • Increase direct dales to more customers
 

All articles featuring Karen Halton

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Vending machine provides growth for Transition farmers

Average direct sales of 140 litres a day is a drop in the 16,000-litre ocean of milk produced daily at Tom and Karen Halton’s dairy farm, Halton Farm in Congleton,…

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

6 business areas to focus on for Transition farming success

Successful farming businesses will need to be streamlined, efficient and diversified for the significant challenges that lie ahead, while having built-in resilience and being financially astute. Those that survive will…

LIVESTOCK

Ways to cut emissions in housed livestock systems

All livestock farms, regardless of system, must comply with UK environmental legislation, but as the sector comes under greater pressure to go further with greener farming methods, it is businesses…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Zero-grazing switch cuts dairy feed costs by 2p/litre

Transition Farmers Tom and Karen Halton, who milk 530 ProCross cows near Congleton, Cheshire, have always grazed low-yielding cows to improve milk from forage and lower feed costs. However, they…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Transition Farmer update: Labour shortage halts progress in Ches...

Two key transition targets at the Halton family’s dairy farm have been made tougher by the labour shortage in the UK. Tom and Karen Halton milk 530 ProCross cows (a…

STAFF MANAGEMENT

Advice on how to build and keep a good farm team

When times are tough, it can be hard to summon the energy to recruit staff or to invest time to maintain a strong team. The challenge now for farmers is…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Dairy health and welfare underpins transition strategy

A progressive approach to staff management, high welfare standards and selling milk direct are key to the Halton family’s dairy transition strategy. Cow health and welfare underpin the entire business,…

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