Assistant Herdsperson - Pole Farming

Job content

We are looking for a hands-on Assistant Herdsperson to work closely with cows on our family farming business near Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

Our business:We are a family farming business, passionate about high performance cows. Our 500 Holstein cows are fully housed, all-year-round calving and we milk 3 x day through a 34:34 Delaval Herringbone with milk sold to COOP via Muller. We achieve fantastic performance, averaging 11,500 litres at 3.85 BF & 3.23 P and with Bactoscan at <20 and SCC at 130. We have always been committed to ongoing investment in expansion and we have extensively refurbished older buildings when required to optimise our cow accommodation. Our most recent build includes a 200ft shed which is fitted with deep bedded sand cubicles and dedicated to our dry cows. We implement technology where it assists in effective cow management and supports our team in getting the best performance from our cows. All cows have Cow Manager tags for heat and health monitoring along with auto ID & linked seg gate, ACR’s on the parlour, and a fully hydraulic foot trimming crate. AI is also done fully in-house, Heifers are all served to sexed semen along with 15% of the cows and we are achieving a Pregnancy Rate of 29%. We have been genomic testing for 12 months and find our cows to be consistently in the top 1% for production traits. A subcontractor is used to carry out our routine foot trimming. We rear all calves and replacement heifers on site, and we are achieving an average age at first calving of 23.8 months. We feed full TMR based on multi-cut grass silage, maize and wholecrop wheat and whilst we do some cropping and land work such as slurry spreading and cultivations in house, we enlist the support of a very accommodating contractor neighbour to assist with silage making and drilling.

The Role: We are looking to add a cow focused Assistant Herdsperson to join our diverse, settled and competent dairy team. The primary focus of the role will be milking, following set protocols, and maintaining excellent parlour hygiene. This would include milking mornings for the full 3 and ½ hour milking followed by a break, then back for the lunchtime milking. Night milking’s are covered by a settled team and simplified, with no fresh or high-risk cows being milked, to minimise out of hours issues.

Skills, attitude & experience:The successful candidate will naturally enjoy working closely with cows. You will be proactive and have a desire to see cows realising their potential. You will have good stockman ship skills and have the ability to maintain excellent milk quality and parlour hygiene.

Pay & Reward: Our package includes an hourly rate starting from £11/ hour, dependent on the skills and experience you bring to the business, along with the possibility of a flat or static caravan on farm. The package is based on an average 60 hour working week, traditionally working every other weekend on a 12-on 2-off shift pattern between the hours of 4.00am and 4.30pm. We are keen that the working pattern meets the needs of the individual and their family so we would look to accommodate any specific requirements to ensure long term sustainability for the individual and the business.

Location: The farm is located in the rural village of Wanstrow, which has a village pub with a welcoming atmosphere and serves excellent food. There are a several schools locally including a ‘good’ rated Primary School within 1.5 miles and Secondary School within 4 miles. We are lucky to be very well connected by road and rail, there are three major towns; Frome, Shepton Mallet and Bruton all less than 7 miles (20 mins) drive away which boast extensive shops and services. With Frome often being voted one of the best places in the UK to live!

Additional information

Please note, the employer does not have the sufficient licences to offer sponsorship under the Skilled Worker Visa.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: From £11.00 per hour

Application question(s):

• Do you hold a UK Driving Licence?
• How many years of dairy farming experience do you have?
• This the employer is not licenced to provide sponsorship under the Skilled Worker Visa, please confirm you do not require a visa by answering ’no’ to this question.
• Please confirm the best email and phone number should we need to contact you about your application

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: One location

Reference ID: Assistant Herdsperson - Pole Farming