Bridgwater family makes final of dairy industry’s Gold Cup

The Ford family, based at Peadon Farm, have developed a high-performance dairy business that has earned them a place in the final of the 2022 Gold Cup. 

The competition is organised by National Milk Records (NMR) and the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).

The trophy is considered an award for all-round excellence and considers herds’ production, inspection and genetic management. It comes with prize money worth around £100,000.

Chris and Helen moved to the farm in 2001, when Chris took on the role of herdsman for the dairy herd.

Retirements led to the couple having the opportunity to become the first-generation tenant farmers on the 275-hectare unit in 2015.

They started with 400 cows and no youngstock. They have since established a Quantock pedigree Holstein herd with 600 cows and 680 youngstock.

Make sure you get yourself along to @Dairy_TechUK on 1 February to meet this year’s Gold Cup competition finalists. #Dairytech2023 @NMRGroup pic.twitter.com/WwLGqACHAB

— RABDF (@theRABDF) December 16, 2022

Chris said: “We invested what we could in milking cows to generate a cash flow. 

“And for a few years, we kept cows a bit longer than ideal to keep the tank full until we’d built up our youngstock numbers.

“We’re now bringing in a high proportion of heifers and we’re now getting closer to the ideal age profile for the herd.”

The herd has been closed since 2018 and, last year, they sold 237 surplus cows to other farmers.

Their son Robert is now part of the farm’s team of 10-staff and is keen to be more involved while daughter Charlotte, 16, is still studying.

All staff are given introductory training, focusing on health and safety, and encouraged to develop more skills and play to their strengths as they become more experienced.

@theRABDF and @NMRgroup, have announced the finalists for the 2022 award. The five finalists include two dairy businesses from Scotland, and three from the south and southwest of England. https://t.co/FRKtI3Cq2j

— RABDF (@theRABDF) December 14, 2022

Reporting and record keeping are an important part of the farm’s management and to adhere to their Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) Muller contract.

Chris said: “This close working relationship and the diligence of our team has helped us to reduce our dry cow antibiotic use from 100 per cent to nine per cent.

“And our team’s hard efforts in maintaining hygiene and bedding routines to help prevent mastitis in the lactation and the addition of a new transition shed with sand cubicles have all helped to improve udder health.”

He added: “Our aim is to breed efficient, healthy, high yielding cows with good longevity that can produce 50,000 litres of milk over four lactations.

“And TB restrictions permitting, we aim to sell surplus stock.”

The family has reached the final alongside farms from Wiltshire, Devon, Ayrshire and central Scotland.

The five finalists in the Gold Cup will be judged on-farm by RABDF’s council members Di Wastenage and Peter Alvis and 2019 Gold Cup winner Robert Sloan.

The winner will be announced at Dairy-Tech on Wednesday, February 1 at the NMR stand at 4pm.