This year’s NMR/RABDF Gold Cup winner is Michael
Eavis with his 385-cow Holstein Friesian herd at Worthy
Farm, near Glastonbury in Somerset.
GOLD CUP WINNER
Whilst Michael may be the public face,
behind the scenes, it is dairy manager John
Taylor, wife Pam and four members of staff
that manage the herd. The veterinary advice
and support which keeps the herd healthy
and productive is provided by vets Peter
Edmondson and Oliver Tilling from Shepton
Vet Group.
Peter has been the farm’s vet for 27 years,
and the Taylors have been there for 16
years. Routine fertility visits are made weekly
by either Peter or Oliver, and also provide
the opportunity to discuss other herd
health matters.
Peter explains: ‘There are no major health
concerns here - we just keep on top of
everything. This is helped by John and Pam’s
conscientious attention to detail - which is
especially vital for high yielding herds. John
has a very forward-thinking approach, whilst
Pam keeps the milking parlour and routines
in immaculate order - it’s no wonder the
Bactoscan level is under 10.’
Support with herd
records
John manually records all herd activities -
births, inseminations, drug treatments - onto
Shepton DAISY recording sheets. Information
from the routine visit is added too, and
Peter/Oliver take these back to the Shepton
practice where the information is uploaded
onto a herd management programme.
Peter explains: ‘We manage the records
for over 6,000 dairy cows - this includes
handling passport applications, movement
records, medicine records; the computer
programme also produces all the farmer’s
management and action lists, including the
list of cows we need to see at our weekly
fertility visits, and it analyses herd performance
so it can be compared against targets.
‘This bureau service makes life easier for
John and Pam as it frees up time, so they
can concentrate on the practical aspects of
herd management.’
In-house calf-rearing
Whilst some farmers have out-sourced their
heifer-rearing, John has recently brought it
back in-house. He explains: ‘We have
always reared our calves until they are about
five months old and then sent them away for
rearing on. But we found it wasn’t easy to
keep an eye on them, and they weren’t
achieving the target weight gains we needed
for breeding.’
When the neighbouring farm became
available, including sheds and buildings,
there was the opportunity to take over the
whole heifer-rearing programme. A year
on, John is now happy to have full control,
and better growth rates are showing
dividends already.
Peter adds: ‘Bringing the age at first calving
down to 24 months saves time and money
due to a shorter rearing period, plus there’s
extra milk production to be gained.’
The herd’s DAISY records show that in
2008, the average number of days from
birth to first calving was 920 days (just over
30 months); however, in 2014, it is 824
days (27.5 months) and falling.
‘It’s too soon to see the full effect of bringing
heifer rearing in-house, but already, there’s
a saving of 96 days,’ explains Peter. ‘With
heifers averaging 40 litres/day, that’s an
extra 3,840 litres per animal!’
A look behind the scenes of this year’s
NMR/RABDF Gold Cup
winning herd
Veterinary surgeon
Peter Edmondson
XLVets practice
Shepton Veterinary
Group
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
13
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
NMR RABDF Gold Cup Winners 2014. Left Pam Taylor, Michael Eavis and John Taylor.
Comfortable cows
