PROFILES

Two-month-old calves get a helping of meal from Mark Logan

Amazing oils immortalise Northern Ireland herd’s decades of upgrade passion

Mark Logan has been pursuing his passion for pedigree breeding for the past 30 years, working with the Clandeboye herd, based at the Clandeboye Estate near Bangor in County Down. And, he tells Rachael Porter, he has the late Lady Dufferin to thank for that

Lady Dufferin appointed Mark Logan as Herd Manager back in 1991 and gave him free rein to upgrade the existing dairy herd to pedigree. That not only allowed him to indulge his interest in Holstein breeding, but also meant the pair enjoyed many dairy show excursions – and successes.

“Lady Dufferin was keen to upgrade the herd – and just as passionate about pedigree breeding and showing as I am. She came to many shows with us, often with her sketchbook in hand. She was a prolific professional artist, as well as looking after the estate; cows feature in many of her paintings,” says Mark. Thanks to many generations of breeding, under Mark’s watchful eye and skilled hand in selecting the best sires to use on top cow families, there have been – and still are – many cows worth immortalising on canvas. A quick Google of Lindy Guinness (Lady Dufferin’s maiden name and the professional name she painted under) reveals some amazing oils. Mark’s passion for farming began at primary school, where he had friends whose family kept pedigree British Friesians. “I’d spend weekends and school holidays with them on their farm, and when I finished school I decided to study agriculture for three years at Greenmount.”

He then worked on the farm of the friends he’d grown up with, as well as gaining some dairying experience in New Zealand in the 1980s. When milk quotas were introduced in 1984, Mark was share farming in Northern Ireland. But by 1990, quota restrictions made the business unviable so, in 1991, he applied for and was offered the position with the dairy herd at Clandeboye.

In 2007, 16 years after gradingup, the Clandeboye herd won the prestigious Holstein UK Premier Herd award. In the same year the herd achieved its first Master Breeder Award, scooping a second in 2019.

Today’s 100-cow herd now also includes 30 pedigree Jerseys. “We purchased the Jerseys in 2000, which was also when a new parlour and cattle housing were added. We’d reached a crossroads with the business at that time and the estate was looking at a couple of options.” We needed to renovate the cubicle house and install a new milking parlour. On the table was continuing with 130 cows, increasing to 200 or 300 head, or getting out of dairying. “Lady Dufferin and I were keen to continue with the herd, but she asked: ‘Do you really want to milk all those cows?’. I was honest and said I preferred managing a maximum herd size of 100 head. So we renovated the buildings, with capacity for 100 milkers, which meant we could manage the cows as individuals.”

Grading up was done using existing cow families in the herd and by buying in some bloodlines. “And back in the 1990s, grading-up was relatively quick – we were able to register some cows and heifers as pedigree straightaway because the breeding and paperwork was already there,” says Mark. Existing cow families included Oonagh and Marie. And they’ve continued to make their mark – both still have descendants in the herd today. Bought-in cow families include the Rosina from Templedale (via a Prelude daughter), a Marq I from Hanoverhill, and two Fawns from Calbrett. “All were Canadian because I like these North American cow families, and all were either maiden or in-calf heifers,” says Mark. He liked their conformation, “I was looking for show cows but also well-known names.”

Mark had to be patient regarding Rosina. “I took a couple of trips to Canada in 1993 and 1994 and wasn’t able to buy a Prelude daughter. Everyone wanted Preludes and they were in short supply, but I finally got lucky in 1996.” All the purchased heifers calved successfully and produced plenty of heifers between them. The Rosina certainly didn’t disappoint. Templedale Molly Prelude completed nine lactations and produced 120 tonnes of milk during her lifetime. She classified EX94-6E and also produced eight EX daughters and is a 27-star brood cow.

“It was an exciting time and I knew I was lucky to be able to go and do what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a blank chequebook, but Lady Dufferin trusted my judgement.” Mark also purchased a Willow cow, from Canada, but she was purchased via someone else in Northern Ireland who’d imported her. “There aren’t so many Willows left in the herd now. But one of our most successful show cows descended from that first purchase. Clandeboye Champion Willow EX94 won the Irish National Holstein Show in 2007 and 2008. She was also crowned Inter-Breed Champion at Balmoral in 2008 and took the All-Britain Junior Cow title in the same year. “She was also a productive cow – a good functional animal and not just a dazzler in the show-ring,” says Mark, adding that she produced 90 tonnes of milk in seven lactations. “And she produced a few daughters too. Four were classified EX, but we sold three of them when we had a big sale in 2011.” The most recent cow-family purchase was a Shannon from the Hawksmoor dispersal sale. “I judged the Shropshire Herds Competition in the late 2000s and was really impressed by the quality of the Hawksmoor herd. Rob Clare’s breeding had kept his herd in front in Herds Competitions for many years. “When I saw he was dispersing I had several animals earmarked in the catalogue and ended up with the Mogul daughter Shannon 26, who produced a heifer calf shortly after the sale and scored 88 points as a second calver a few days off the boat. She produced 11,944kg of milk at 4.75% butterfat and 3.23% protein in her second lactation.”

Mark, accompanied by Lady Dufferin, began showing cattle in 1997: “Mainly shows in Northern Ireland – Balmoral in spring and the Royal Ulster Winter Fair in December. Those were, and still are, the two big ones for us. “Initially it was very much a shop window for the herd and a way to promote our herd and show what we were doing,” says Mark. “Now I’m not convinced that’s the main reason to show cattle – or indeed why we

Clandeboye calves The Journal camera piques the curiosity of a two-month-old Holstein calf

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Clandeboye’s Madagascan Vanilla Greek Style Yoghurt was named Product of the Year 2021 in the prestigious UK Quality Food Awards Mark Logan shows off some of the original paintings by the late Lady Dufferin, depicting the Londonderry Hall at the RUAS Balmoral Show

do it. We do it because we enjoy it. I think I’m hooked on it. There’s a huge social side to it. The people who show are a community – and not just locally but across the entire world – and I like being part of that.” Mark recently showed three Jerseys at Balmoral Show, which was postponed in May but held in September. And he took six Jerseys to the Royal Ulster Winter Fair in December. “I just didn’t have any Holsteins that were ‘show ready’, but it’ll be a different story in 2022, I hope.” He says he’s really relished getting back to showing after a twoyear hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s really good to be back, but it wasn’t easy after lockdown to find the enthusiasm to put in the extra work it takes to take part. That said, once we were there, I was so glad we did. I was a little apprehensive and I think I also forgot what I was missing.” Lady Dufferin passed away 12 months ago, so the 2021 shows were the first he’d been to without her. “She used to come too and she’d spend a lot of time sketching. Wherever she went, she’d always have her sketchbook. That was her number one passion and the cows were a close second.”

Milk from the all-year-round calving herd is processed to produce Clandeboye yoghurt. “Processing started in 2007. When we downsized in 2000, the business ticked along nicely for a few years. But then milk prices dropped significantly and the dairy just couldn’t make a profit.” “At that point we were probably dairying because Lady Dufferin didn’t want to sell the herd. But then she spoke to a dairying friend in England who was processing their milk into yoghurt. No one was doing that in Northern Ireland so it seemed like a perfect opportunity and a relatively risk-free way to add some value to the herd’s milk.”

Now, all 850,000 litres of milk produced by the herd each year is processed into what is still the only yoghurt made in Northern Ireland. Eight different flavours of Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt are sold through all the major supermarkets in Northern Ireland, including Tesco, Sainsburys, Lidl, and Asda. It is also available in Southern Ireland in Aldi, Lidl and several local retailers.

The Greek Style Vanilla flavour won the UK-wide Q Food Awards Product of the Year in 2021, making it the only Northern Irish product to achieve this accolade in the competition’s 40-year history. The cows are managed on a conventional spring and summer grazing system. Milkers are typically turned out in mid-April and re-housed in September. The herd is fed a TMR during the winter, comprising grass silage, maize and forage rye. This provides maintenance plus 30 litres for Holsteins and plus 22 litres for Jerseys. All cows are topped up to yield through the 16:16 herringbone parlour with a 19% protein concentrate.

Holsteins average 10,365 litres at 4.31% butterfat and 3.36% protein with the Jersey average 6,526 litres at 5.33% butterfat and 4.09% protein. The herd’s annual rolling average somatic cell count is 203,000 cells/ml.

“The Jerseys’ milk constituents are key to what makes the yoghurt creamy and extra tasty,” says Mark. “And the Holsteins are vital to produce the volume of milk that we need to make the dairy business and the diversification not only viable but successful.”

So what does Mark look for to not only ensure the cows produce plenty of consistently top-quality milk, for several lactations, but also enjoy show-ring success? “When selecting sires I’m looking for longevity and fertility – you really can’t have one without the other. But, if I’m honest, I think we’ve been moving, unbeknown to us, in slightly the wrong direction.” “In 2007 we had five 100-tonne cows in the 70-cow Holstein herd. Today we don’t have any. Longevity, to me, is more lactations and total lifetime yield. And I’ve been selecting sires that supposedly offer more longevity, but the index is more a measure

The newly-built yoghurt production facility. Clandeboye is the only yoghurt produced commercially in Northern Ireland and can be found in several major supermarkets both sides of the border

of how many more days a bull’s daughters are productive rather than the idea that I have of longevity.” “So we’re going to reassess here. But we will continue to focus on feet and legs and udders. And we’ll also continue to use proven sires where possible and move away from using young genomic bulls. I need the reassurance of a solid daughterproven proof.” He’s not swayed by PLIs either. “I don’t look at the headline figures. I’m more interested in the linear proof and production figures. I often fail to understand how those underlying traits and figures translate into the headline figure. I am still an oldfashioned believer in the strength of cow families.”

“In my opinion, too many modern sires, with high PLIs, have straight legs and short teats. But it’s so important that our cows can walk – and we have to be able to milk them cleanly and easily too.” Mark says that particular sires tend to do well in Northern Irish herds, including Champion, Rudolph and Duplex. “They’ve certainly done well for us.”

More recently Dewars has been making his mark. “We’ve some nice daughters – first and second calvers – milking in the herd.” Clandeboye Dewars Katrina SP VG86-2yr, for example, gave 10,850kgs 4.55% fat 3.37% protein in her first lactation. By his own admission, Mark says he has too many different sires in his flask. “We have six at the moment, but it’s not too much of a problem as they’re all similar in type. We are trying to produce a uniform herd and to build back some of that allimportant longevity.” “The herd, in my view, isn’t as good as it was in the late 2000s. The diversification into yoghurt has probably been a distraction, but it was vital to the long-term success of the herd. Going forward, we also need to focus more on management and health traits.”

“We will pull it back with a few tweaks and more careful sire selection. So that’s our future focus.”

Despite his concerns about the lack of 100-tonners, classifications are still going well. The herd has been classified three times a year since registering pedigree. “We feel it’s important to help add value to the cows, but it’s also an opportunity to ensure breeding and genetic progress are on track. It’s certainly a day we look forward to. There’s always good news.” There are currently 21 EX and 44 VG cows in the herd. The highest classified EX cow in the herd is a Jersey – Clandeboye Tequila Cookie EX95-4 – who has won many show championships and All Britain Awards.

Mark’s favourite Holstein cow at the moment is Clandeboye MG Rosina EX91-2. “Sired by Mardi Gras, she lacks the style to be a show winner but is the perfect herd cow, with a superb shallow udder, and gets back in calf easily. So far, she has produced 45,510kg of milk, at 4.63% butterfat and 3.41% protein, in four lactations.” Herd size will remain the same, but Mark says that the unit could carry more young stock. “And we could sell the surplus. But, again, we have to be careful we don’t flood the market with heifers.”

He has been using sexed semen, since 2016, and the amount has steadily increased to 100% today. “It’s more reliable now and our confidence in the technology has improved.” And, of course, Mark would like to see more of those elusive 100-tonners populating the herd. “Our cows are quite big, but they suit our system and our facilities. Like any breeders, we’re also always looking to add a little more style and dairy quality. “But balance is key and we have to breed cows that also produce top-quality milk to allow us to continue to produce tasty yoghurt.” Like dairy herds across GB and Northern Ireland, Mark says the estate, which is now held in trust, is also looking to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the dairy business – and reduce its carbon footprint. An anaerobic digester (AD) was built in 2016, to generate electricity to power and heat water for the dairy and yoghurt processing plant. Surplus electricity is fed into the National Grid, while the waste from the yoghurt processing plant goes back to the AD plant. “We’re looking to reduce the dairy’s environmental impact as much as possible – particularly its carbon footprint. Breeding cows with good longevity – able to complete seven, eight or nine lactations – is key to that.”

“And milking long-life, fertile, trouble-free and attractive showwinning cows is also key to satisfying my unerring passion for breeding top-quality dairy cattle.”

Farm facts

• 120 hectares of the 800-hectare

Clandeboye Estate used for dairying (grassland and forage crops) • On-farm yoghurt processing • Anaerobic digestion plant • Altitude: 70 metres above sea level • Annual rainfall: 950mm • Soil type: light clay

Herd facts

• 70 Holsteins, plus 30 pedigree

Jerseys, plus 120 followers • Holstein average yield: 10,365 litres at 4.31% butterfat and 3.36% protein • Jersey average yield: 6,526 litres at 5.33% butterfat and 4.09% protein • Average somatic cell count: 203,000 cells/ml • All-year-round calving • Conventional grazing system with buffer feeding, plus winter

TMR

Influential sires

Champion Dewars Duplex Glauco Mogul Rudolph

Cow families

Fawn Marie Marq I Oonagh Rosina Shannon Willow

Clandeboye Holstein classifications

VG 21 EX 44

Clandeboye Dewars Katrina

Clandeboye MG Rosina

Hawksmoor Shannon 26

Cheshire business takes control of its own sustainable destiny

‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ could be a fitting adage for the business model of one of the breed’s well-known farming families in Cheshire. Howard Walsh explores further with Ray Brown

The Bidlea prefix needs no introduction for the majority of Holstein Friesian breeders, having been around for more than 100 years since its foundation in Biddulph, Staffordshire.

Nowadays, having been based in Cheshire at The Orchards Farm, Twemlow, for the past 60 years, the diverse business also needs no introduction for residents of surrounding villages and beyond, with its ongoing innovation and ideas, all developed in response to changing economics and with a view to securing the future viability of this family farm, owned by Ray Brown and family.

Ryan, Becky and Emmie, who look after the farm, with one of their oldest cows – Bidlea Sensation Tory EX 94

A more recently completed development was the farm’s own processing dairy, Bidlea Dairy, but that in itself generated more ideas for increasing the income stream and some of those are now bearing fruit with others being a work in progress. However, back-pedal a decade or so and one of the family’s major plans was for an off-site, commercial scale anaerobic digestion plant which, despite an eye-watering capital outlay, would have seen pay-back in just a few years. Unfortunately, several years of work had to be mothballed due to local action group pressure, although the project is not dead in the water.

Says Ray: “Had that gone ahead, then we probably wouldn’t have gone on to build the dairy which is on the opposite side of the lane to the main farm buildings.” “During the early years of the AD project I was NFU County Chairman and had been NFU North West Dairy Board Chairman for six years and was also on the national NFU Dairy Board.”

“I wasn’t happy with the returns from liquid milk sold through a broker but, as I was representing all dairy farmers, I would have been uncomfortable taking on a supermarket-aligned milk contract – although I had the opportunity with Wiseman as it was then. As things have turned out, I’m glad I didn’t.” He recalls the milk price crash of six or seven years ago when, for a while, there was a 10p per litre difference between what some neighbours on an aligned contract were being paid and the price his family was receiving. “The sustainability of our business has always been something we have discussed and I remember being at an NFU meeting when the word volatility came up. That means peaks and troughs but, in my mind, we were always in the trough. For a while I had been toying with the idea of processing our own milk, although the investment involved did seem a bit daunting.” “However, there were plenty of locals asking why they couldn’t buy their milk direct from us, although obviously nowhere near enough of them to account for all our production,” says Ray. At that time, the Bidlea herd was averaging around 12,500 litres on three-times-daily milking, something Ray had done for almost a quarter of a century since coming into the family business at 18. Cow numbers had increased over the years from the 24 head back in 1961 to either side of 300. What had initially been acquired as a fruit farm, but not considered sustainable long-term, had gradually been turned over to grass and all dairy. “Cow numbers and yields increased as the route to sustainability for

Adam, Becky and Harriet look after the dairy and processing detail

some people was, and still is, to produce more milk. However, later on, we got to thinking that for us, taking the foot off the pedal a little and farming more extensively with more production from home-grown forage made sense,” says Ray.

“And if we weren’t producing as much milk there would be less need to rely on brokerage prices.” That is basically how the notion of on-farm processing at The Orchards started to become a reality. Says Ray: “We had begun to do some promotion locally to generate awareness and interest in what we were planning and were fairly confident we could secure a market.”

Now, milking cow numbers have scaled back to about 280 on twicedaily milking on even intervals, with the morning milking beginning about 3am. It is usually Ray who is first in the parlour. “We are getting relatively more milk now because the cows are less stressed and it has made life more enjoyable for all of us,” he says. Interestingly, while for some milk producers, the availability of labour is an increasing concern for the sustainability of their businesses, at Bidlea they are fortunate to have plenty of reliable local labour with regular phone-calls from people looking to work at The Orchards. Ray and Jill have two sons, Ryan and Adam and a daughter Mel. All are involved in the business, along with Ryan and Adam’s wives, both called Becky. Says Ray: “Ryan and his wife look after the farm side, with the help of Mel. Adam and his wife are in charge of the dairy. Together with the staff we employ, all the work on the new dairy, after the shell had been erected, was done in-house, and the construction skills of the team also extended to new houses for our family. The major cost for out-sourced specialist work was for stainless steel welding; that was very expensive but necessary.” The design of the lofty, timber-clad processing building that is Bidlea Dairy, and much of its internal layout, was down to Ray. An original budget of around £750,000 has

One of the young bulls being used currently at Bidlea is Bidlea Chapter, who has been chosen for his conformation, with special attention to his legs and feet, top line, thurl width, and strength. Milk quality has become a top criterium since the demand for cream has developed. He is backed by an outstanding pedigree with Excellent 94 points on both side of his family tree

Becky and her mother Angela churn out the ice cream

more than doubled, but that includes the linked development of café, shop, visitors’ facilities and milk vending facility. Cows are milked though a 20:20 herringbone and milk from the tank is transferred by 0.5hp pump a comparatively short distance via an overhead pipeline to the processing dairy, which of course compares favourably with the miles involved in most raw milk collections.

Heat recovery from cooling, and solar panels on some of the farm building roofs add to the farm’s green credentials. Surplus pasteurised milk is fed to the calves which, says Ray, is beneficial in helping reduce any challenge from disease-causing pathogens. After pasteurisation, milk goes into either glass bottles (75%) or cartons (25%) and as well as supplying two milk rounds, Bidlea Dairy now sells to more than 100 different customers, including shops and other retail outlets.

Says Ray: “At the start we got into some farm shops with branded product and then put out some cream samples and once people had tasted it they wanted more. That gave us the confidence to push on. We are currently selling milk and dairy products from at least 85% of our daily production with County Milk still taking the balance.” “We now have milk, cream, butter and yoghurt on offer in the shop, along with a wide range of ice creams. The latter has been the big winner in more ways than one. At the 2021 International Cheese and Dairy Awards we won four gold medals and two silvers out of 78 entrants.”

There are four staff in the dairy on a daily basis with pasteurising taking place on three days, and the range of products made on other days. The business has four delivery vehicles. Adam makes extensive use of Facebook and other social media for continuing promotion of the business and it is clear from that, how much the community is involved and supports the venture. The family also takes time to try and educate the public about farming matters, hosting school visits from time to time. Ray and Jill were recently named winners of a lifetime achievement award for promoting agriculture in Cheshire. They have a no-nonsense approach to even the more controversial topics. Says Ray: “That includes the sensitive issue of badgers – but we try and tell it how it is, how devastating TB could be for farms like ours and why farmers take the steps they do.” With the core dairy operation now running successfully, other on-going projects aimed at increasing footfall include a small ‘zoo’, an outdoor bakery, pizza production and a café lounge in addition to the facilities already in the coffee shop. Milk vending machines are also proving popular, with customers initially buying a bottle or carton and then retaining it for refills. With the milk coming straight off the processing line into refrigerated tanks and then through the machines, the waste reduction and the carbon footprint are second to none. One of the milk vending machines also dispenses milk shakes, which is proving to be very popular “Weekends are our busiest days, with up to 400 people in the summer months,” says Ray.

Becky oversees the pasteurising of thousands of litres of milk every day

Also, one of the traditional buildings on the farm which was not really suitable for livestock, has been converted into a venue for weddings and some Young Farmers functions, Ray being a strong supporter of the movement.

He also has more ideas including a safe path for schoolchildren to get to the ice cream shop from school, plus extended parking and a play area. And on the education theme, rather than have large numbers of people round the farm buildings, a large plasma screen is going to be erected to show milking, calving and other routine farm work.

He points out that all the developments apart from some of the dairy equipment, have taken place without grant aid and it is the farming that has supported the investment.

Says Ray: “The fact that we are pedigree and have a good demand for young bulls and heifers has, of course, been valuable and we still enjoy the breeding side of the business. Because we have demand for bulls, we are not using much sexed semen

The herd has long been successful in herd competitions, shows and sales and was, for example, this year’s Western Holstein Club’s champion in the Top Ten Herds competition, also winning the overall Champion cow with Bidlea Pitcher Brianne, a 2015-born EX90 daughter of a home-bred sire. The breeding policy has always been on producing milk with high constituent values and that, in itself, has proved invaluable for the dairy products now being made in-house. Some of the cow families include Tagasling, Peach, Pride, and Miriam that started in 1919 all tracing back to the British Friesians.

Ray’s parents Clifford and Madeline were also among those breeders buying from the first importations from Canada. In 1946, in particular, Biddulph imported Casapple Fayne – the foundation of the herd’s current Saladin, Fayne and Casapple families.

Says Ray: “In the early 1990s, in conjunction with Andrew Whittaker (Knowlesmere) a Papoose also came in from Canada, and some years later the daughter of the great miracle cow Gillette Blackstar Christianne, that was called Prelude Angel, to establish another important family at Bidlea.” Ray and Ryan are also keen on developing a small nucleus of Lineback Holsteins, which he says compare well on performance with the black and white counterparts in the herd and they hope to generate some interest in the sale of bulls and heifers from these also.

As for the future, with the fertile brains of the Browns at work, who knows what could be next on the agenda? As already stated however, the AD project is not dead in the water and, given greater acceptance by the public of what it actually could mean – efficient disposal of the local authority’s food waste, and the production of sufficient electricity for 5,000 homes – it could be resurrected.

Says Ray: “We bought a redundant petroleum depot on an ex-MOD site about half a mile away which had been used for the storage of aviation fuel and we still own it and all the equipment we had fabricated. If feedin-tariffs become more attractive again, who knows what may happen?”

Farm facts

• 203ha (500 acres) • Grass, wholecrop wheat, maize • Medium loam soil • Grazing herd producing 4,800 litres off home grown forage • Cubicle housed in winter • TMR + in-parlour concentrates • 10,200 litre average 4.80% butterfat, 3.45 % protein

Refreshing milkshakes are proving to be very popular

Ray demonstrates one of the dairy’s user-friendly vending machines