Tratford Farm

Cornish Mutual cover their business and personal insurances including covering their robotic milking machines.

They work by scanning the collar of each cow so it recognises the cow it is milking and knows when they were last milked, the weight they should be and whether they have recently calved.

They work by scanning the collar of each cow so it recognises the cow it is milking and knows when they were last milked, the weight they should be and whether they have recently calved.

Less than two years ago Andrew invested in two robotic milking machines to help him expand their dairy herd up to 140 cows. The introduction of these machines has significantly reduced the amount of time he and his family need to spend milking their herd from six to two and a half hours a day.

 Andrews says: “It’s completely changed our day-to-day lives. Having these machines means that we can spend more time with the children and can be more flexible with our time. It’s great to be able to spend more time together as a family, focusing on other areas of the business.”

Each machine can milk 60-65 cows. They work by scanning the collar of each cow so it recognises the cow it is milking and knows when they were last milked, the weight they should be and whether they have recently calved.

Hannah told us: “It’s a lot easier for just one of us to oversee the milking. The machine does so much, it feeds the cows slowly while they are being milked and it even separates out the milk of cows that have recently calved, so that their milk can be put aside.”

Andrew adds: “The machines are incredibly useful - they feed the cows, weigh them, check for infections, milk them and report all the data back to you. The great thing is, if you’re not there while a cow is being milked and something does go wrong, the machine will automatically phone you and tell you.”

Being able to increase their herd and have more time to spend on other areas of the farm and with the family has made a big difference to the Julian’s.

As their farming business has changed so have the insurance requirements. Dave Bersey has been their local insurance advisor for over 20 years and has helped them to get the right insurances for their farm expansions. They insure all of their home and farm buildings and contents with Cornish Mutual, including livestock, agricultural vehicles and their new machinery.

Andrews says: “Being insured with Cornish Mutual is reassuring – we know we can rely on them. About 20 years ago we had a big shed fire where we lost some lambs and our combine harvester among other things. It was quite devastating but Cornish Mutual dealt with our insurances quickly which is exactly what you need when you’re in that unfortunate position and worried about your business.”

“You know that there’s one person you can speak to who knows you and your business and they’re just a phone call away. We see Dave a lot because our children go to school with each other. Cornish Mutual is like a community in itself, the fact that they’re local is important to us.”