A recent poll conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU) from April – June 2008 found that overall, dairy farmers planned to sell their male dairy calves, while around a fifth either planned to rear/keep, export or cull their male calves.

The findings from the West Midlands region shown in the chart are only indicative, as the number of farmers polled was not enough to provide a statistically robust sample.

Most popular makes are Keenan (mixer wagons) and Massey Ferguson (other equipment)

A survey with livestock farmers has shown that around a fifth (19%) of all livestock farmers interviewed owned a mixer wagon. The most popular make, by far, was Keenan. In fact, just over half (51%) of all the livestock farmers with their own mixer wagon had one. The next most popular make was HiSpec/Mixmax (8%) followed by Taarup/Kverneland (6%). On average, the livestock farmers who owned a mixer wagon had been using it for five years. Almost all (98%) the livestock farmers who currently do not have a mixer wagon were not considering using one in the future.

In the West Midlands region 21% of livestock farmers owned a mixer wagon. Keenan was more popular, with just over half (57%) of farmers from the West Midlands with a mixer wagon owning one. Livestock farmers in the West Midlands region who had a mixer wagon had been using it for just over five years. The majority of those without a mixer wagon do not plan to use one soon (98%).

The main make of other farm equipment was Massey Ferguson (19%), followed by John Deere (11%), Case International (10%) and Ford (10%). In the West Midlands region, the results were similar with 16% owning Massey Ferguson, 12% owning John Deere, 13% owning Case International and 10% owning Ford.

Majority not planning to invest in the next 12 months

The majority (87%) of livestock farmers interviewed were not planning on investing in any new equipment in the next year. Of those that were, most were planning on buying a new tractor (40%). There were a wide range of other investments mentioned, but all were made by less than 5% of the farmers.

In the West Midlands region, a similar percentage of farmers were not planning on making an investment in new equipment (see chart). Those who were considering it were thinking of investing in a tractor (43%).