Six go for gold in dairy industry’s top award

NMR and RABDF have named six dairy businesses out of 500 qualifying herds as finalists in this years Gold Cup. The six from North Wales, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, West Sussex and Dorset have been visited by a team of judges and the winner will be announced at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show, NEC, on Tuesday September 6.

THE SIX NMR/RABDF GOLD CUP FINALISTS ARE:

• Kevin Jones, Bryn Mawr Farm, Starkey Lane, Northop, Flintshire

• Christopher and Ray Gasson, Redlands Farm, Hook Norton, Banbury, Oxfordshire

• Mike, Shan, Paul and Steve Miller, Greville Hall Farm, Evesham, Worcestershire

• Chris Simmons, Simmons Farms Ltd, Kingswood, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucs

• Tim Gue, Huddlestone Farm, Horsham Road, Steyning, West Sussex

• King Family, Vortex Holsteins Ltd, Martinstown, Dorchester, Dorset

Kevin Jones, Bryn Mawr Farm, Starkey Lane, Northop, Flintshire

Kevin and his wife Ann have taken over the day-to-day running of the business from Kevins parents Glyn and Frances. The focus has shifted during the past decade or so to concentrate on milk production with Kevin selecting high yielding sires instead of a more dual-purpose type bull, with feeding based on home-grown maize and wheat and the best use made of slurry.

With soaring input costs for electricity, feed, fertiliser and water, the family has invested in a new slurry store giving five months storage, and 43 pv solar panels generating 10kW of electricity. A pump brings water from a spring under the farm for storage in an old milk tanker.

The 260-cow Starkey Holstein herd with 220 milkers averages 10,308kg at 3.77% butterfat and 3.22% protein (2x). Milk is sold to Tomlinsons Dairies, of Wrexham, which pays a premium for Welsh branded milk. Cell counts are 168,000cells/ml with Bactoscan at 18. The herds calving index is 416 days. The herds net margin in 2010, as costed by DairyCo, was running at 3.47ppl over all costs.

Christopher and Ray Gasson, Redlands Farm, Hook Norton, Banbury, Oxon

The emphasis on this unit with 400 cows is on fine-tuning herd health and production while engaging with the consumer and farming in an environmentally friendly way.

Both Chris and Ray have had jobs off the farm Ray is a retired agricultural consultant and Chris is a vet in Somerset. So the day-to-day running of the unit is down to manager John Peck with herdsmen Stan Peake and Ed Williams and four part-time staff.

Plans are in place to replace the older 200-cow kennel cubicles with a new single-span building to improve housing and ventilation. Health and welfare of the herd is paramount. The almost closed herd is vaccinated for IBR, BVD and leptospirosis.

The year-round calving herds recorded average yield is 10,282 litres (2x) at 3.77% butterfat and 3.13% protein. Calving interval is 413 days and cell counts average 120, and the Bactoscan average is 20. Milk is sold to Dairy Crest for Waitrose. Margin over purchased feeds is running at 1,970 a cow.

Mike, Shan, Paul and Steve Miller, Greville Hall Farm, Evesham, Worcestershire

The Miller family moved to Worcestershire from Somerset with 46 milking cows. Today they are heading rapidly upwards from the current 280 cows.

Nutrition and cow comfort are high on the agenda with target dry matter intakes across the herd of 23.33kg. With rising feed costs the aim is to grow more high quality forage on the farm.

The calving interval stands at 423 days and they would like this reducing but embryo transfer work presents its challenges here. The herd has produced embryos of high value and have been sold across Europe and North America.

For the future the family hopes to continue onwards and upwards. This years production is likely to exceed 12,000 litres, the milking herd will have reached 350 head by the end of the year, and beyond that they say they will just keep going.

The Shanael herd has an NMR annual average production of 11,801kg at 3.70% fat and 3.15% protein (3x). Milk is sold to Cotteswold Dairy in Tewkesbury. The cell count average is 186,000cells/ml.

Chris Simmons, Simmons Farms Ltd, Kingswood, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucs

Feeding and fertility have been top priorities on Folly Farm. In the past 12 months milk from forage has doubled 3,139kg of milk comes from forage.

Herd fertility is managed with equal precision. Cows calve in the sand-bedded calving pen and join the fresh group after two to three days when their pre-breeding checks begin, and once they are deemed to be clean and the voluntary waiting period of 42 days has passed, heat detection begins in earnest. The calving interval stands at 404 days.

In recent months they have sold their milk processing business to allow Chris, his staff and family to concentrate on the core business.

A new 120 cubicle shed and earth-banked slurry lagoon are now under construction, with the aim of supporting a herd of 370 by the end of the year.

Average production for the Kingsfoll herd is 11,223kg at 3.84% fat and 3.29% protein (3x). Milk is sold through Farmright and the average cell count is 172,000cells/ml. Margin over purchased feed is an impressive 2,036 per cow.

Tim Gue, Huddlestone Farm, Horsham Road, Steyning, West Sussex

Tim and Marion Gue manage the 385-strong Huddlestone pedigree herd with help from four full-time staff, including two herd managers.

Cows here are bred for longevity and sires are selected for feet, legs and udders as well as low SCC scores sires that produce daughters that are of average size and not too angular best suit the system here.

Tim has just renewed the farms countryside stewardship scheme, converting to the higher level with particular emphasis on wading bird habitats on some of the farm’s river-side meadows.

Investment is on-going with the recent addition of a 120-place calf house, with automatic side curtains to aid ventilation. Plans in the offing include building a house on the farm for one of the dairy managers, a new 120-cow place cubicle building and new mattresses for the existing cow houses.

Average production for the Huddlestone herd is 10,655kg of milk at 3.83% butterfat and 3.15% protein (3x). The average SCC is 153,000cells/ml and the calving interval is 406 days. Milk is sold to Tesco via Arla.

King Family, Vortex Holsteins Ltd, Martinstown, Dorchester, Dorset

Tom King is the fourth generation at Church Farm and runs the 120-hectare unit with his father Alan. Since 2000 the herd has more than doubled to its current 300 cows with 250-head of youngstock.

In order to keep more cows the Kings have converted two existing silage barns into cubicle sheds and built a new feed yard. They have also extended and upgraded the existing 16:16 herringbone parlour its now an 18:18 with auto ID, ADF and pedometers to aid heat detection.

The herd is run as one group and fed on a TMR based on maize, grass and lucerne silage. With the help of Toms brother Charlie, a nutritionist, the feeding has been changed during the past four years with the introduction of a mixer wagon. Charlie formulates the rations and sources the feeds.

Vortex Holsteins average 11,568kg of milk at 3.9% fat and 3.03% protein (3x) with a SCC of 89,000/ml and a calving interval of 412 days. Milk is sold to Dairy Crest on a Sainsburys Dairy Development Group (SDDG) liquid contract.

Finalists will be judged by this years judges: David Cotton: Chairman of the RABDF and Chairman of judges, Trevor Lloyd Non Exec Director: NMR and Nick Cobb winner of the Gold Cup competition in 2008.

The winner will be announced at the Dairy Event, NEC on Tuesday September 6 on the NMR stand at 4.30pm along with the winner of the Chris May Memorial Salver, which will be awarded to the Gold Cup qualifying herd with the highest average lifetime daily yield.

The NMR/RABDF Gold Cup is open to all milk recorded herds meeting the competition criteria of more than 100 milking animals, an annual somatic cell count average of 200,000cells/ml, or less than 400,000 for organic herds, for the recording year ending 30 September 2010 and a minimum PLI value specific to the breed.