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I was able to spend a couple of days visiting farms in Cornwall and with the brilliant spring sunshine and hedges and verges in full bloom the county was looking fabulous but then so were the cows. I visited Tredinnick. Trewarnevas, Carne and Lower Keigwin having travelled down for the Judges workshop hosted by the Warren family at Tredinney. James had turned out 3 classes of six in show ring order and of very similar quality and 16 of the 18 were home bred.

David Christophers and Ian Rowe are two young men that have joined the Guernsey membership in recent years and made a big impression on Bill Luff who was judging the South West Herd Competitions in 2010. David has just two milking cows Tredinney Buzzards Bracken 4th and Trerose Tradition Liz …

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The Annual Awards for the Guernsey Herd Competitions of the South West Guernsey Association were presented yesterday and among the Prize winners was Briddlesford Lucks Bluebell 7 VG 85 who set a new UK production record of 1016 kilos of Fat + Protein and also gave more than 3000 gallons (14523 kgs) in her 305 day lactation. Congratulations to the Griffin family of the Isle of Wight for managing Bluebell 7 so well.

The Warren family of Tredinney Farm, St Buryan,Cornwall and UK Sire Services of Dartington Devon have successfully exported semen from Cara’s Conqueror of Les Jaonetts to the USA. The importers are Golden State Breeders of California owned by Mr Frank Faria. Conqueror was imported from Guernsey Island in January 2011 …

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Andy and Rachel Payling have been awarded the First Prize for “Health and Fertility” for their Oxlynch Guernsey herd in the Gloucestershire NMR Herd Awards competing against all recorded herds of all breeds. They have also recently sold 20 in milk cows to a farmer from Hereford whose client was desparate …

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The production of Fertility Indexes for UK Dairy breeds in the last two years has been somewhat “controversial”, in that as ever work done originally within the Holstein breed has been applied to the other breeds and no-one within the “magic circle”  of Guernsey breed advisors has looked at what would …

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After six weeks of snow and ice followed by the Christmas and New Year Holidays it was a great pleasure to be able to restart visiting Guernsey herds last week, and I was able to walk through three good herds each of which have several potential bull mothers for EGCS.

The Alderney Herd

I visited Alderney this week and on what was my third visit, came away very impressed with the improvements that continue to be made by the hard work and enthusiasm of the Cox family.

Clare and Mike and elder son Stuart are involved full time, with daughter Hannah and Stuart’s girlfriend Chloe and younger son Craig all helping out with the milk and meat processing operation.

When Mike and Clare first came to the Island they undertook to maintain the grassland of the whole Island either by grazing or by topping, they soon came to realize that time spent topping was a poor use of their resources and so have increased the grazing numbers in two ways.

Kiprono Sego has sent a picture of a Guernsey heifer that was recently made Interbreed Champion at the Nairobi International Fair. “Eliza” is owned, bred and exhibited by ADC Lanet Feedlot, the Government Agency that took over the running of many farms after Independence and have continued to run them …

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One of the most welcome developments recently has been the decision of Helen and Daffyd Cox from Laugharne in West Wales to purchase a Guernsey to add to their very successful Glanmor Jersey herd. At this weeks Welsh Dairy Show in what were very competitive Jersey classes they achieved a clean sweep of the Championship placings.