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Contract Milking & Sharefarming

Most share dairy farmers will have completed a dairy apprenticeship to gain the necessary skills required to manage a farm on a daily basis. During their time as an apprentice they might start to move towards a share agreement by buying dairy cows or by taking on additional responsibility within the business. Sharefarming agreements tend to fall into one of four basic categories, which are set out in the table below.

Sharefarming Agreements

Type of agreement	Sharefarmer share of milk income	Ownership of cows	Ownership of mobile plant	Responsibility for day to day management	Sharefarmer share of costs
Contract milker	20%	Owner	Owner	Owner	Usually nil
One third	33.3%	Owner	Owner	Sharefarmer with some owner input	Usually 33.3% of shed costs
60:40	40%	Owner	Optional	Sharefarmer	Usually 40% of shed costs and bought-in feed
50:50	50%	Sharefarmer	Usually sharefarmer	Sharefarmer	Usually 100% of shed & cow costs, & 50% of all farm costs

This page was last updated on Thursday 1 November 2007.

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