Shropshire Star

Farmer Gerald named the cream of the crop

A herd of 84 cows belonging to a farmer from Shropshire has been declared the best producer of milk in the UK – and that's official.

Published

A herd of 84 cows belonging to a farmer from Shropshire has been declared the best producer of milk in the UK – and that's official.

Gerald Allsop's cows have come top of a national league table – beating off competition from thousands of other farmers.

He said it was a 'once in a lifetime achievement' and marked the culmination of 45 years of hard work.

Mr Allsop, from Enchmarsh Farm, near Church Stretton, said reaching the top of the National Milk Records (NMR) Annual Production Report is something all dairy farmers strive for in their careers.

But he has insisted there is 'no secret formula and no frills' behind his success, which he has put down to hard work and good breeding.

Mr Allsop's 84 Enchmarsh Holstein cows climbed from eighth spot in table in 2009/2010 to first place for the year ending September 2011.

The table is calculated by the National Milk Records which works out how much milk the herd produces on a daily basis, the amount of fat and protein contained in the milk and the interval between cows giving birth to calves.

Last year Mr Allsop's cows produced 11,731kg of milk twice-a-day which contained 886kg of fat and protein. NMR chiefs say the higher the fat and protein the higher the quality of the milk.

His cows calved on average every 421 days.

Mr Allsop said: "The herd has taken years to build up to what it is now. This is a once in a lifetime achievement which dairy farmers strive for.

"A lot has changed over the years with different techniques in breeding and producing. It's a great achievement to get it all right.

"There's no secret formula and no frills. I've been building the herd up for 45 years and I have four decades of NMR records so I can see where I've come from and which cow families have done really well for me.

"I look to breed cows for type and feed for production. Having specialised advice in these two key areas is a vital component and has allowed us to progress."

Mr Allsop thanked his team and advisers, including independent nutritionist Nick Beard and Rob Braithwaite from World-Wide Sires.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.