Tell us a bit about you?

I joined Davidsons 7 years ago making the switch from a general farm consultancy role to a more specialised role in ruminant nutrition, predominantly within dairy nutrition. I helped to form the Dairy Tech team in 2019 and cover a wide area, mainly North Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire. My passion for all things dairy stems from growing up around the family farm, where my Dad and Uncle run a herd of Friesian cows plus followers.

What’s your role, and what do you do day-to-day?

My role at Davidsons is Senior Dairy Tech Consultant, leading the Dairy Tech team within the business and working closely with my colleagues both on farm and remotely. Day to day can vary a lot, with the main part of my role being on farm, consulting on herds, formulating rations and feeds, sampling forages and meeting customers. My role also involves trial work on new and innovative products with our trusted suppliers, helping to manage feed formulations and implementing new ideas within the Dairy Tech team.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of my job is working with our customers and my colleagues. I’m in a lucky position where I love the job that I do, and get to work with amazing customers who all have a real care and passion for what they do, all supported by the family run Davidsons business which is always looking forward and innovating.

What makes you stand out from other consultants?

Being proactive, understanding our customers targets and our ability to problem solve and put in place the right solutions for that individual farm. Each farm has different goals, and I am confident we have the right solution for every circumstance or can adapt quickly to make sure we do, whether that be through our unique product range, our ability to analyse data and our whole farm approach, working with our knowledgeable industry partners and Davidsons flexible approach to adapting to market conditions independently.

What do you do on farm to make you different to others?

I like to take on a whole farm approach, adapting what we offer to each individual farm and herd, from advising on forage making to helping with milk contract compliance, making sure we have the right solutions in place and making the best decisions with all of the data, tools and experience that we have available to us. Working as a team is essential to what we do, working with farm vets, foot trimmers, parlour and robot engineers is something which we actively promote.

What can you do on farm to benefit your customers?

Bring a proactive approach to every situation, whether that is ration and feedstuff related or other aspects of cow performance and health such as shed design (cubicle dimensions, ventilation, cow signals and behaviour), robot and parlour settings and optimisation.

What inspired you to purse this career?

This role has allowed to me work within a sector that I am passionate about, and there is always something new to learn. The dairy sector is always changing and advancing, and technology is playing a bigger part in what we do and I believe it can play a key role in cow performance and welfare going forwards. The team at Davidsons is also passionate about progressing, and is always very supportive of new ideas.

What are your hobbies outside work?

There is never a quiet moment in our house! My wife and I have two young kids who keep us on our toes! We have a small flock of pedigree ewes and we have recently started showing at local shows with them. We are also slowly working through fully renovating our house when time allows and escaping with our caravan for a few days away during the summer months.

Describe yourself in 3 words?

Dedicated – Inquisitive – Active