The second day was given over to the herd visit at Briddlesford which has been the highest yielding herd within EGCS (English Guernsey Cattle Society) for the last few years, but by virtue of its position on the Island is relatively unknown amongst EGCS members. The herd has been milk recorded with NMR and has developed from the original 15 cows that were brought to the farm by Richard Griffin’s father. Paul Griffin who has the day to day management of the herd in his hands is the fourth generation of the Griffin family in the business and it was good to hear that his nephew, the fifth generation is now milking 3 mornings a week, but given his talent as a musician so ably demonstrated the previous evening he will have other options.
The herd had been developed by the use of Guernsey “bull of the day” provided by Genus and graded up to Pedigree in 2005 and has been classified on a regular basis since and that has helped to identify the “strong” families. The genetics in the background included Iford Rose Governor, Rockbeare Guardian and for two years in a row the whole herd was bred to Trotacre Jay Mr Luck. All of these bulls are noted for milk production and that is evident within the milk records produced but it was concern about the wearability of the cows that prompted the move to pedigree status.
Five years is a relatively short time in cattle breeding terms but it was obvious yesterday that the younger cattle are showing more wearability and already Briddlesford Deltas Daisy 2 H86 is the third generation to be classified VG.
Jon White who has had the responsibility for searching for “bull mothers” for the GGBP (Guernsey Global Breeding Plan) scheme had identified a list of high GMI cows and with all but one of the FOB (future of the breed) committee present it was an opportunity to see how the GMI was working in practice. The first thing to say is that almost every cow on the list was considered to be “underscored” and will need to be seen again by the Classifiers.
An example of this is Briddlesford Oaks Bluebell 2 H79, the cow behind her is 3/4 Guernsey and a quarter Angus ! a different approach to hybrid vigour. Bluebell 2 was considered to be better than VG 85 and would then be second gen VG. The progeny of Boskenna Junes Royal Oak caught the eye right across the field and included Briddlesford Oaks Violet.
Once all of the FOB members had made their selections, 13 cows were shortlisted and I need to liaise with the Griffins, to plan matings and to in due course to introduce some Briddlesford bulls into the GGBP.
Fortunately all Guernsey bull calves are reared now and the meat is sold through the Briddlesford Farm Shop which is run by Louise Griffin and is packed with local produce and their own milk and cream. We did check to see if any of the selected cows had a son being reared for veal but that was not the case.
I mentioned earlier the impact for production of Mr Luck, and he has not as yet had any use within the GGBP scheme because of the concerns about wearability, but there are several outstanding cows by him at Briddlesford including Briddlesford Lucks Lily 9, Briddlesford Lucks Lily 10 and Briddlesford Lucks Bluebell 14.
I pictured (I was told earlier this week “that you are not David Bailey“) 9 cows that caught my eye and three of them were from the Violet family, The B. Oaks Violet (pictured above) and Briddlesford Rivers Violet but also included Briddlesford Deltas Violet considered by many to be the best cow in the herd and she combines type, production and index, she is in calf to Tredinney Buzzards Astronomer and is due in January 2011.
It was a pleasure to visit again the herd and farm and to see the improvement that is happening, I have always remembered one of my “Guernsey heroes” telling me that is “easy to breed for type” and it is “easy to breed for milk”, but the difficult thing is “to do both”. It was good to see yesterday young cows such as Deltas Violet producing 7500 kgs as a heifer with 5.5% fat and VG classification.
The President gave his final “set of orders” and we reluctantly left the cows and returned to the farm for yet another superb meal and this was followed by the Annual Prizegivings (reported previously) but dominated by the Griffin and Warren families and the AGM which was apparently the shortest on record.
The new Presidents George and Elsie Fallows started their term and I look forward to working with them . It was thought that the Chairman Nigel Kennard was also retiring, but surprisingly given his report to the AGM, he has unfinished business and plans to hang on until November, when Duncan Vincent will take over.