Rachel & Richard Risdon

Woodrow Barton, Brampford Speke, Exeter, Devon 

  • Farm size: 110ha 
  • Annual rainfall: 865mm
  • Soil type: Clay loam over river gravel 

Rachel and Richard Risdon have a 300-strong spring calving Friesian cross Jersey dairy herd in Devon.

The herd is rotationally grazed and yield about 4,900 litres and 452kg of milk solids from about 650kg of concentrate.

They operate a grass-based system – and top up with cake when necessary, focusing on having cows out grazing from calving in February until late November.

Transition goals: 

  • Securing adequate labour
  • Better understanding ELMs 
  • Reducing carbon footprint
 

All articles featuring Rachel and Richard Risdon

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

4 popular carbon calculators for farms compared

Strategies to improve the economic situation on a farm will very often result in also reducing your carbon footprint, which can make a carbon audit a useful benchmarking exercise for…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Transition Farmer Podcast: Grass-based dairying in Devon

In this episode of the Farmers Weekly Transition Podcast, Rachel and Richard Risdon talk about their grass-based dairy enterprise. The couple run a grass-based herd of 300 Friesian cross Jersey…

LIVESTOCK

Reducing emissions is major aim for dairy transition farmers

Transition Farmers Rachel and Richard Risdon have three main goals: reducing their carbon footprint, generating an income from the environment and securing adequate labour for their family farm. The couple…

DAIRY

Can all-forage dairy diets be practical and profitable?

At about 3,250 litres annually, cows fed wholly on forage produce much less milk than dairy herds on diets including concentrates. But producers who have made the switch say other…

The Transition Podcast

We examine new farming methods designed to help you transition for the future

Listen now

Transition webinars

A practical webinar series helping to secure a sustainable future for your farm business

Watch now

News Round-up

The weekly Farmers Weekly newsletter including Transition Specials

Sign up now

Transition Hub

News, advice and insight into how your farm can overcome the challenges of transitioning.

Back to transition

Our Transition Partner Network

Agreena

Agreena

Agrifac

Agrifac

Agri-Tech Centres

Agri-Tech Centres

Barenbrug

Barenbrug

Bayer

Bayer

Catchment Sensitive Farming

Catchment Sensitive Farming

Claydon

Claydon

Conrad Energy

Conrad Energy

Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs

Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs

Environment Bank

Environment Bank

Farmplan

Farmplan

Frontier

Frontier

Hybu Cig Cymru

Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales

Hutchinsons

Hutchinsons

Interagro

Interagro

John Deere

John Deere

KW

KW

LEAF

LEAF

Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank

National Trust

National Trust

NFU

NFU

Omex

Omex

Strutt & Parker

Strutt & Parker

Tilhill

Tilhill

Timac Agro

Timac Agro

UPL OpenAg

UPL OpenAg

Woodland Trust

Woodland Trust

AB Agri

AB Agri

MHA

MHA

Forestry Commission

Forestry Commission

Wanderlands

Wanderlands

Nofence

Nofence

School of Sustainable Food and Farming

School of Sustainable Food and Farming

Lombard

Lombard

Agricarbon

Agricarbon