Livestock Event News
FINALISTS NAMED IN 2013 NMR/RABDF GOLD CUP
10 June 2013
Six British dairy herds have been named as finalists in this year’s NMR/RABDF Gold Cup. The 2013 winner and runner up will be announced at the Livestock Event, held at the NEC, on July 3 at the NMR stand at 4.30pm.
“We have six outstanding finalists who have each developed dairy units to maximise their resources and who are committed to the dairy industry,” says NMR’s Jonathan Davies, who joins RABDF chairman Ian Macalpine and Gold Cup winners from 2010 Mike and Chris King in judging the six finalists.
The six 2013 NMR/RABDF Gold Cup finalists are:
• David and Louise Hodgson, Wormanby Farm, Burgh by Sands, Carlisle
• David Tomlinson, Bilsborrow Hall Farm, Bilsborrow, Preston
• Higgins Family, Wilderley Hall Farms, Pulverbatch, Shrewsbury
• Darren McMurran, 88 Castlevennon Road, Dromore, County Down
• David Ball, Kemble Farms, Kemble, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
• Neil Christensen, Steanbow Farms, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
David Hodgson and his father Harry from Burgh by Sands, near Carlisle inCumbria, run the 150-cow Wormanby Holstein herd and were runners up in the 2012 Gold Cup.
Average production for this year’s competition stood at 10,735kg of milk at 3.87% fat and 3.09% protein with an average cell count of 136,000cells/ml and a Bactoscan of 25. Milk from this year-round calving herd is sold to Arla.
The Hodgsons also sell around 40 heifers a year through sales, but increasingly to individual herds who buy groups of their heifers. The herd has a high health status and this appeals to many buyers.
David and Sheila Tomlinson and their son James keep the 230-cow Bilsrow herd and followers, from Bilsborrow near Preston.
Responsibilities are well-defined with James, and assistant herdsman James Billington, looking after milking, fertility and health. David – with part-time help from Russell Thompson – looks after the land work and feeding.
Breeding decisions have always underpinned the progress of this herd, which achieved an average yield of 10,538kg of milk at 4.41% fat and 3.14% protein on twice-a-day milking for the year ending September 2012. Average cell count is 118,000cells/ml and the calving interval stands at 438 days. Milk is sold to local cheese makers Dewlay, based at Garstang.
Bill and Andrew Higgins and parents Bill and Margaret from Wilderley Hall, at Pulverbatch in Shropshire, run the 316-cow Holstein herd on 145 hectares with help from three full-time staff and five part-time milkers.
In the year to September this three-times-a-day milked herd achieved 12,718kg of milk at 3.81% fat and 3.03% protein based on 230 qualifying criteria. Average cell count is 68,000cells/ml.
Herd size has grown organically during the past 15 years. Cows have been bred consistently for production with good functional type. Their aim remains to breed a uniform herd of top cows. Calving is year round with a calving interval for the qualifying year of 433. Milk is sold via Muller/Wiseman to Tesco.
Darren and Stuart McMurran run 270 Holsteins at Dromore, County Down in Northern Ireland. They moved to the farm, with 70 cows, eight years ago and expanded with the help of their vet, breeding adviser and nutritionist – all playing an integral part.
Production has also increased. Cows are housed 24:7 and milked three times a day. The herd is currently averaging 10,533kg per lactation at 3.88% butterfat and 3.07% protein with a SCC of 116,000cells/ml. The current calving index is 391 days.
Heifers calve down at 24 months and are targeted to yield 10,000 litres in their first lactation.
David Ball, manager of the 950-hectare Kemble Farms, Cirencester, combines 550 hectares of arable with the dairy, residential property lets, holiday lets and an equestrian business.
The Thameshead herd is milked three times a day by a team of seven under the guidance of the herd manager Tim Wring. Cows are fed a TMR with heavy reliance on quality forage – most of which is home grown and forms part of the arable rotation. Cows are housed all year round.
Average yield for the year to September 2012 for the 585 qualifying lactations was 11,345kg of milk at 3.59% fat and 3.08% protein with a somatic cell count of 166,000cells/ml and a calving interval of 395 days.
Neil and Michael Christensen and their father Finn run the 500-cow Steanbow Farms, based at Pilton in Somerset. Cows are housed all year so they can allow 200 of their 607 hectares to be used for the Glastonbury Festival from May to August each year.
This system has also helped to overcome the farm’s high potassium index, which caused milk fever problems and cystic ovaries.
Yields have increased during the past few years and for the year ending September 2012 the herd achieved 10,452kg of milk at 3.71% fat and 3.09% protein on three-times-a-day milking. Their calving interval was 387 days and average somatic cell count is low at just 96,000cells/ml. Milk is sold on a Sainsbury’s contract with Dairy Crest.
The six finalists were among 500 herds meeting the qualifying criteria for the Gold Cup that specified official milk records for 100 or more cows, a cell count of 200,000cells/ml or less and a minimum PLI specific to the breed – £37 for Holsteins – for the year ending September 2012.
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