Three generations of Shropshire dairy farming comes to an end with herd going under the hammer at dispersal sale
Three generations of dairy farming at a north Shropshire farm is coming to an end with a dispersal sale of a large portion of the widely respected Dilandy Holstein Herd.
D. & A. C. Shakeshaft of Whattall Farm, Ellesmere, will be selling 60 in-milk and eight dry cows, 80 in-calf and served heifers, 40 maiden heifers and 20 heifer calves at Shrewsbury Auction Centre on Tuesday, September 23, following Halls auctioneers’ monthly dairy show and sale.
With the tenancy of the near 300-acre Whattall Farm ending soon, the Shakeshaft family has decided to sell most of the herd, but to keep 80 youngstock for a smaller farming venture at English Frankton.
The youngstock will be sold over the coming months, leaving the family to focus on developing a pedigree herd of Herefords and Beef Shorthorns.
Dilandy Holstein Herd is Bluetongue vaccinated and will be licensed to sell to Welsh holdings.
Halls said the herd currently averages 11,466kg of milk with 4.40 per cent butterfat, 3.45 per cent protein and 105 cell count.
Giving 32kg of milk daily, the 60 milkers have just been classified for the first time and include 21 VG cows, seven VG heifers, 14 GP cows and 15 GP heifers, with none of the cattle below 80 points.
Andrew Shakeshaft farms in partnership with his wife Helen.
His late grandfather Hughie Edwards began dairy farming at Whattall Farm in 1929.
Andrew’s mother Isabelle, now 91, was born on the farm and married David Shakeshaft in 1959.
When David died in 2011, Andrew and Helen continued the successful dairy herd, which has been a consistent silverware winner at Shrewsbury Auction Centre’s dairy shows for many years.
“I have enjoyed dairy farming very much for the past 40 years but nothing lasts forever,” said Andrew. “This new opportunity has arisen and I am looking forward to it. Whilst I am still fit and healthy, I need to focus on something that is more manageable.
“With a dairy herd, you have always got to be milking twice a day and you don’t get much respite. By comparison, a beef herd is less demanding.
“The way forward for the dairy industry seems to be more cows per unit and labour working on a shift system. One of the biggest problems is getting staff to work on the smaller farms where the hours can be onerous.
“When I was milking 300 cows, I would start at 5am and finish around 6.30pm and I still might have to attend to a calving cow!”
One aspect of his job that he has really enjoyed is breeding the best dairy cows.
A highlight came whilst working with the late Bryan Challenor, of Worldwide Sires.
Together they bred Dilandy Debonair Tabitha Red, which sold privately to the noted Logan Holstein Herd in Scotland and went on to become The Royal Highland Show interbreed champion and the Red and White champion at AgriScott in 2014.
The breeding cycle completed a full circle in June this year when Andrew purchased two Tabitha descendants in Scotland.
“Logan Holsteins have had a lot of success with the breed and it started here with Bryan and me,” he said.
Shrewsbury Auction Centre manager Jonny Dymond says the Dilandy Holstein Herd dispersal sale is one not to be missed, due to the quality on offer.
“This is highly respected and extremely well bred herd and it has been a privileged to sell cattle for the Shakeshaft family at Shrewsbury Auction Centre over a number of years,” he added.
