February 2023 Newsletter

Apart from hoping that Spring is just around the corner, we enter the New Year with nothing new to report in terms of increased costs. Those, together with Climate Change impact on all branches of Agriculture. But we can do something to tackle both. Increasing margins by improving milk from forage with our British Friesians, bred for just this situation, whilst also contributing to carbon capture through rotational grazing.

Interestingly, the theme for the British Cattle Breeders Conference was ‘Change’ and many of the speakers at RABDF’s Dairy -Tech also tackled the subject. We even heard our cow described as the cow of the future by the American speakers. We just need to make certain that we retain the biodiversity of our breed code 20’s within the Herd Book as it is the obvious outcross for black and whites, each with its specific proven data. After all, we now see that the inbreeding % for American Holsteins registered in 2022 averaged 9.64%. Alarm bells are surely ringing! If ever there was a time for farmers to assess the appropriateness of their farming systems, it is now.

The following figures confirm that we are in a good position to start with and there are plenty of sires to enhance yields if desired.

The December proof run confirmed the superiority of the British Friesian with a positive of 15.7 Fertility points and 55 extra days of lifespan over the Holstein.

Advantages :

Enough heifer replacements without expensive sexed semen.

Surplus heifers for sale or less replacements required.

Valuable pure male or beef x calf for finishing.

Extra mature yields.

RABDF AWARDS

Congratulations to Richard Bell on winning the Chairman’s Cup with his Nerewater Herd. This award is for the highest total value of solids (non-jersey or Holstein and was presented at Dairy-Tech

MARCH 10th : BFBC AGM & CLUB DINNER

Will be held in the Bidders Room at The Auctioneer, Rosehill Industrial Estate, Carlisle, CA1 2RW, commencing at 7pm. (See Enclosures)

MARCH 11th : BORDERWAY UK DAIRY EXPO AND NATIONAL BRITISH FRIESIAN SHOW, CARLISLE

As per usual, our Breed’s National Show takes place the day after the AGM and Dinner, and we look forward to a fine showing from breeders. Mr Duncan Hunter has kindly volunteered to be this year’s Judge for our National Show.

CONSISTENT PERFORMER AWARD

Hopefully you will have noticed the addition of the new CP Award for qualifying British Friesian females, created by HUK at the Club’s request. See the explanation in the Awards section under Noticeboard on the Club’s website. Hopefully, the results for 2022 will be published in the May edition of the Journal.

HERD VISIT

We are pleased to accept an invitation from Andrew Rees and family to view the Walwyn herd on Wednesday 28th June.
His details are: Andrew Rees, Moor Farm, Walwyns Castle, Haverfordwest, SA62 3EE, South Wales. This will be a one-day visit, but it is hoped to arrange a dinner for those staying overnight. Further details in April Newsletter.

BFBC FACEBOOK PAGE

Please do continue to support this facility with photos of your favourites, news of your herds and any snippets relevant to the Breed. We are always interested to hear from new enthusiasts for the Breed.