Categories: Bradfields Farm Dairy

Bradfields Farm Dairy is a small farm of less than 250 acres near Wickford in Essex, which has been owned by the Lambert family since 1922. They are mainly a dairy farm with over 120 cows but they also grow wheat, barley and maize to feed the cows and bed the yards.

The Dairy is a new enterprise that opened in February 2017.

The Girls

Their cows are Friesian Holsteins and are bred on the farm. The cows are milked twice a day; spend the summer on grass 24 hours a day and are housed in an open barn bedded on straw during the winter with access to food, water, extra exercise and their important rubbing posts!. The Girls are very high performing, producing on average over 10,000 litres of milk a year each. As they are hand reared, the Lambert family get to know them well; their health and well-being is very important. They have individual personalities and are often very curious. They have their own quirks, which side of parlour they prefer, being at the front or back and their hierarchy in the herd.

Are The Girls free range?

There is no official definition for free range in dairy. With a heavy clay soil all year, grazing is not an option as it would ruin the next years’ grass if cows were on the land when the grass stops growing between November and February. The farm does its best to keep their cows on grass as long as possible, depending on the weather. They will go out usually in March/April and come in for the winter in October, giving about 6 months (180 days) of 24 hour grazing access.