Controversy continues to rage over the proposal by Nocton Dairies put forward by farmers Peter Willes and David Barnes to create a ‘super’ dairy on the former Smith’s Crisps estate near Lincoln. This is certainly not dairy farming as we know it; it will mean some 8,100 cows in 22 acres of buildings on a farm 2½ miles square.

It’s an ambitious plan which will change not just milk production in Lincoln, but dairy farming across the UK. Objections have arisen because of comparisons with some particularly poor US dairies rather than the best practice the planners of the Nocton dairy claim. To find out more we talked to Peter Willes and local Lincolnshire farmer Robert Howard who also supports the plan.

The output will be 150 million ‘pintas’ a year —that’s enough milk for the entire combined population of Lincolnshire and Nottingham to pour over their cornflakes every single day!

Plans for the farm include the anaerobic digestion of cow muck — to generate heat and electricity from waste products — which, along with the latest recycling technology, should facilitate the lowest carbon footprint for milk production in the country.

The dairy will also provide optimum welfare standards with high comfort features for the cows and 24-hour vet cover. But one of the most important features of all, according to those behind the plan, is it’s a return to the age old principles of mixed farming (arable and pastoral)... albeit on a very modern scale.

But why here in Lincolnshire?

That’s the first question we asked, given that Peter & David hail from Devon & Lancashire respectively, and Lincolnshire has never been considered prime dairying land. The farmers have spent five years looking for then securing the perfect site and it appears Nocton Estates and Lincolnshire in general have some unique benefits to offer.

Local supporter of the project is Robert Howard, who is from a long established farming family specialising in potatoes and sugar beet at neighbouring Nocton Rise.

He explains that the site has good natural resources of water and the right type of land to grow the large amounts of forage the cows will need.

“It’s also sufficiently far from neighbouring houses to minimise disruption,” he says, adding that planning regulations are very rigorous in terms of noise, smell, lighting, flies and potential effects on water supply and quality, and all conditions must all be satisfied for planning to be granted.”

“One of the biggest benefits is having a livestock farm in the arable heartland.” says Robert. “This means that after the cow muck has been digested and the energy taken out of it, what’s left is basically just as nutrient-rich — but much less smelly — and exactly what potatoes and sugar beet need. There’s a problem disposing of this natural fertiliser in the west of the country where cattle populations are higher and fewer arable crops grown, but here it’s just perfect.”

Nocton Dairies’ Peter Willes, who along with his father currently has 2,000 dairy cows on three farms in Devon and runs a West Country farmhouse cheese business buying milk from 28 other herds in the Bideford area, maintains that by starting with a clean sheet the farm can be designed wholly around the cows.

“The cows will be milked three times a day — which is about the number of times they opt for when given a choice — in a giant 80-place parlour that takes eight to ten minutes to rotate before they step off again and go back to their quarters to eat or sleep. In the summer they will have the choice to go outside to loaf around if the weather’s good, but they can stay inside if they wish; the choice is theirs,” he explains.

“All their nutrition will come from a mix of forages and grains and local plant by-products such as sugar beet pulp and brewer’s grains rather than relying on grass, as its quality can be very variable.”

The cows’ beds will have deep sand in them and will be cleaned three times a day when the muck is scraped out. All this will take lots of work and that means lots of staff; 85 and counting. But with this size of farm the pair knows they can not only attract the very best, but also train up local people to give them a start in the dairy industry... something virtually unheard of these days.

The aim of Peter and his business partner David Barnes, who have a combined 60 years’ of dairy farming experience between them, and their aim is that all these measures and the individual attention for the cows will keep levels of lameness and other ailments down, and ensure they live long, productive lives.

But they add that there has been much confusion about how the farm will operate, and some horrific images from farms abroad, particularly some very poor examples in the US, have only served to fuel fears.

“It’s important to recognise the high welfare standards we have in the UK with a combination of controls such as Assured Dairy Farms and the Dairy Hygiene

Inspectorate.” says Peter. “So with Britain importing the net equivalent of a billion and a half litres of milk each year (2.6bn pints) and two dairy farmers shutting up shop every single day, the more milk we can home produce, the surer we can be of the welfare standards used to produce that milk.”

David also points out that welfare standards can’t possibly fall below acceptable levels because the groundbreaking dairy, which is set to be a barometer of both public opinion and day-to-day ‘super’ dairy operating practices, will be especially subject to constant scrutiny by industry experts and potential critics.

“One thing’s for sure; we’re always going to be under the spotlight here, and that’s the way it should be!” says Peter.

Currently, plans have been resubmitted following impact concerns by the Environment Agency, so what are the chances of the application for planning being accepted? Peter says he’s confident all the questions asked by the EA have now been answered.

“But we can’t predict all the queries that might be raised... there’s no precedent for this project and we still may have a way to go. If we do get planning, we could be breaking turf on the farm within six months and milking the first cows within 18 months… equally it could be considerably longer, depending on how much energy and money we have left!”