Well the cows will soon have completed their first circuit of the grazing paddocks available to them . It really has been the best Spring that the cows have had for years , and it makes such a difference to the way they eat the grass .We always try to get them out as quick as possible in the year , and this year we were ahead of last year , both for day grazing , and also for nights. With the grass growth good , and also the cows getting buffer fed at milking times , they have milked well , and above all they are holding their condition.
It is very often a challenge to regulate the grass , making sure that they have sufficient clean grass ahead of them and also keeping an eye that they are cleaning up what they are given , both in the trough and in the field . If they waste the grass , especially on the first time round in the grazing cycle then the next growth is never as good as it should be. The pictured grass is what they are currently grazing , and it really is too long for them ,. however they have been making a fantastic job of it . The next strips to graze have all had their fertiliser and now that ewe have had rain , should easily start to catch up , hopefully in time for the cows next time. Over the summer we are going to be looking into the idea of NOT feeding concentrates in the milking parlour in future. I am in favour of cutting it out, feeling that the cows could better utilise other products mixed in with their TMR. The only down side would probably be that some of the more pampered girls might be a little "shy" to come into the parlour without their usual bribe of cake. It's certainly an experiment worth trying though , as parlour concentrate is in excess of £220/t at the moment and little chance of it coming down in price. We are keeping a close eye on the cost of feeding the cows , it's amazing the number of farmers who haven't got a clue just how much it cows to fed their herd. At the moment it is costing us £1.81 per cow ration that goes through the mixer wagon . We are milking 127 cows at present and I am feeding them for 100 rations , so really we are spending £1.42 /cow on the buffer ration . We feel this is money well spent though , even when out at grass. The benefits of the buffer system clearly out weigh the small cost of the food.
The weather has finally broken , and the rain is very welcome , for both grass growth and also for just giving the land that little bit of "give", the ground was getting really quite hard and not such a good surface for the cows to walk on .Once again , I can't remember a year when I've been so glad to see heavy rain fall , even if it has meant me getting wet from time to time !

Spring Turnout for Milkers

This last week has seen the cows finally get a taste of fresh grass again after the long winter. It's always a time that is looked forward to , by both us and the cows . The mood generally lifts on the farm and the cows do genuinely get a spring in their step as they walk to the fields.They have been out during the days for the last week , and tonight they will be kept out at night too , with them now only getting buffer fed during milking times.
As much as it is lovely to see the cows outside , it does bring its own series of problems and issues that must be addressed as the season folds out. During the winter , i have had complete control over all aspects of the cows day, eg, water, food, environment, climate etc. Now, with them going outside , I have generally lost that control. How much are they eating? How much dry matter is in the diet ? Is the walk to the fields affecting their feet ? Will fertility improve now that they are out in their "natural" surroundings? Will body condition suffer as a result of different nutrition and improved milk yields.
Hopefully over the next couple of days , they will get onto a balanced buffer ration and yields will lift.
This year, Keenan are launching their "Pace At Grass" programme for their Pace box on the Keenan mixer wagons. This should give me more of a handle on just what the cows are getting out of the grass/buffer, and I should be able to regulate the amount of buffer needed to compensate for field differences , sward variation , weather etc.
The cows are all given a magnesium bolus when they go outside , just as a precaution against grass staggers. They are also fed high mag minerals for about the first week of grazing too .
Grass growth has been fairly good lately , with the weather being kind to both the land and the cows . Long may it continue , and then up will go the shout that we are looking for rain . We really are never satisfied with our lot when it comes to the good old British weather.
Silage fields are looking good ,although they are probably the fields that really could do with a good shower or two of rain. As with other years we will be looking to do silage first cut around the 18th - 20th May.
All youngstock are still inside , probably until the end of the month.

Northumbria Holstein Breeders Herd Competition

In January the results were announced for the Northumbria Holstein Breeders Club annual herds competition , which is always judged in the previous August.
This year we were pleased with our successes.
As a farm we managed to lift the titles of Best Large Herd , Top herd on Production and also Top Herd on Inspection . It's always pleasing when a judge appreciates what we are trying to do . On the individual classes , Chloanne Webster Gracious was named Super Cow , and Ellenneff Duce Cavaliero was placed first in the Heifer on Production class. Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious 2 came third in her class for Cow on Inspection.
As I've no doubt said before ,It is always a pleasure to have a judge , or indeed anyone come along and look at your herd , they will always see things that you have taken for granted, and maybe offer you that one missing nugget of advice that spurs you on .Sometimes things are staring you straight in the face and you fail to realise it . In my case , this year I didn't enter the Progeny group , It's not a class I find easy to find entries for . Well on the day of judging , I slowly found myself admiring daughters of a bull called Kings-Ransom Duce . Slightly on the smaller side than what we are used to , these animals are quite black , but the most amazing aspect of these heifers is the shape of their udders , a real joy to see when they come in the parlour to be milked. So why didn't I put in a few of these for the progeny group ? I haven't a clue , but I will be following these girls closely over the coming months and if at all possible , I will try the class this year .

Frankham Sept Storm Ethel has had a calf , and this time , a cracking heifer calf. The sire is Ked Outside Jeeves , and is again , another welcomed member to the Ethel family.
As I've had a few of the girls calf , my thoughts are now turning to getting them back in calve again. I have bought some Cogent Twist semen this year . He seems a fairly handy bull , so fingers crossed for some heifer calves later on .
I am also considering implanting some embryo's in the near future . I have a couple of heifers that would lend themselves quite well to this , and if I can rake up a couple more , It would certainly sweeten the job with regard to price etc. .

The main herd is down in numbers at the moment , which means that the dry cow pens are positively bulging . This will reverse itself in the coming weeks as they all start to calve down and join the ranks of the milkers again. Until then though , I am making the most of the slightly easier milkings , knowing that once the numbers rise again , so does the time taken to milk them !

Jess

This week I had to say a final "goodbye" to my Border Collie , Jess. Old age finally got the better of her , she was 15 and a half , which by any stretch of the imagination has been one hell of an innings for a dog . As much as you know these moments are going to come , and her health was failing all the time , it's still one of the hardest moments . Jess was just one of life's constants , she was always there, usually under your feet or lying in the way . Behind a door was always a favourite so that when you got up in the morning the door would push her too !
I "bought" Jess as a pup , and she was from amazing working parents , but I have never used her as a working dog . The instict was definately there, and she did have a general idea how to move a herd of cows along . I say "bought" , because i actually traded in a washing machine for her . Best trade ever !
A better natured dog you'll never meet . She would bark at strange cars and the postman , but would be wagging behind . Wagging the tail that would touch more electric fences than she would have liked , latterly she learned to keep the tail down ! She could "header" a football better than any dog I've ever seen on the TV do , she would chase football and the kids all the time . Her skills never quite developed on the retrieval side of things . She could run after a stick , then just lie down beside it , or bring it half way and then make you go and get the damn thing yourself .
When the kids were young , Jess develped a habit of hovering around their high-chairs , just waiting on the spillages to land on the floor from the trays above . Always amazing with the kids , she always looked as if she was protecting them at all times .
I got a black Labrador about 3 years ago , not sure how Jess would react . It was the best desicion I ever made as I'm quite sure it gave Jess an extra couple of years . It seemed to give her an extra bit of zest , and above all a play mate .
As much as she was a faily quiet dog in the last few months , it's is a strange feeling in the house at the moment , and I know that Max, the Lab is kind of at a lose end , knowing something isn't quite right .
I know that I'll never replace Jess , you can't achieve the impossible .
Just a pet in a million . She is missed by us all .

Our Dairy Farm Assurance Audit

Yesterday it was our Dairy Farm Assurance Audit, an on farm inspection covering many aspects deemed to be important in the safe, clean , responsible production of food , in our case milk . This audit used to be carried out by the milk buyers themselves , who for us is Arla , but for the last 3 audits it has been an independent company carrying it out on behalf of the industry.
When these audits get mentioned there is usually a sigh from folk and the look of dread . On the whole I have always tried to approach them with a positive attitude, and would like to think that by us being quality assured that it will bring us a premium for our product . Sadly that never seems to be the case, with it being a compulsory audit anyway. Any non-compliance's must be rectified with-in 28 days. Happily , we were passed with flying colours, so big sighs of relief all round .
So what all was checked ? Well on arrival the milking parlour was checked for cleanliness ans my milking routine was discussed to make sure that no short cuts are taken during milking . In the dairy , the doors walls and lights were given the once over to check for cracks , defects and in general to ensure that the room was vermin and bird proof . We checked the cows housing , which was fine as the cubicles were all new just last year . All pens of stock were checked to see that all animals had adequate room and that they all could have contact with other animals etc . As you can start to see , all these checks are pretty common sense things which all farmers/stockmen around the country are ensuring high standards of anyway.
In the office is where the real fun and games starts with these inspections . Piles and piles of paperwork , layed out , just in case he needed to see relevant evidence of this and that .
So , medicine records , movement records, staff training records , animal transport records , chemical safety data sheets , milk quality facts , herd health plan , vet visits , feed delivery records to name but a few , were all checked , just to ensure that we operate a safe and clean operation .
Traceability is a vital element of food production and that is a major part of producers paperwork . All inputs must be traceable back to source and all sources must be "this'n'that" registered . it's a real mine field.
Well , the bottom line of all this is that we ticked all the right boxes and we live to fight another day , with a certificate on the wall to prove such a fact. It would be nice to be receiving a premium for a quality product, produced to the exacting standards that the industry sets . Maybe one day !

In The Dairy - Doddington Dairy

The White Stuff !

Unfortunately , the title of this post is not the "White Stuff" that dairy farmers like to talk about . the snow is still here , and it's now packed hard on all the yards , in scenes that are just identical to the one's earlier in the year . I do however think we have coped better this time round (despite the obvious shed incidents). The forecast for the coming week is not that encouraging either , with more snow forecast . Still all our girls are inside , and apart from a few frozen pipes , it's business as usual. We have a neighbours sheep on our land at the moment , and I can't remember when they would last have actually grazed some grass. they have been living off hay and silage now , and generally raking the hedge backs for shelter and food.

The cows have been milking amazingly well considering all the upset and the cold , obvioulsy got the ration about right. We will be drying cows off next month ready for calving in March/April , so hopefully the workload in the parlour should get less for a few weeks anyway.

Today we are going to take down the remaining section of the feed passage roof , as it is basically unsafe now. This will either go smoothly or take us forever and a day. I have visions of it being like a Fred Dibnah type event and when it's ready to fall , I will sound a horn , run like hell , look up and say "Did you like that ? "