Meet the Dairy Shorthorn judge

Breeders from across the UK will compete at the cattle show held at UK Dairy Day, and this year’s Dairy Shorthorn classes will be judged by David Winnington. Wendy Short spoke to him ahead of his latest judging assignment.

David Winnington is well-known in the world of Dairy Shorthorns and he will bring a lifetime’s experience of the breed when he judges the classes this year. His criteria have changed little over the years, with strength, good mobility and a well-formed udder among his top priorities. These features are uppermost in his mind when he is selecting females for his noted Rantonall herd in Staffordshire.

Mr Winnington has been judging Dairy Shorthorns for almost three decades and is vice-president of the breed society. Despite undergoing some subtle changes, the breed’s characteristics have remained basically unchanged for many decades, he says. “It has slightly increased in size and become a little more angular and dairy-like, but in my opinion it has lost none of its positive attributes along the way. The Dairy Shorthorn is based on a durable, efficient and lowmaintenance animal with good conformational traits. “My ideal cow will weigh 550-600kg and she will be able to cope with a long grazing season, while producing plenty of milk from forage. Dairy Shorthorns are also renowned for their exceptionally good temperament.” His judging career began while he was a Young Farmers Club member and the hobby has since taken him all over the country and beyond. Highlights include judging the Royal, Great Yorkshire and Royal Highland Shows, as well as numerous herd competitions and top events in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

It is not unusual to find Mr Winnington in a reversed role and facing the judge himself with his 160-cow herd, which is based at Moor End Farm, near Gnosall. The cattle have achieved considerable success in the ring, last year taking the reserve supreme championship at the National Shorthorn Show. The award went to Rantonall Songstress 50, and EX95 sixth calver by Rantonall Stephen, while the herd also picked up the reserve ticket for the best junior on the day among several other placings.

In 2019/20, the herd was runner-up in the North Midlands Regional Shorthorn Association herd competition, with Rantonall Reality judged the top stock bull. By Rantonall James, Reality scored 90 points as a two-year-old and his semen is being offered privately. “The female lines are the foundation of a good herd,” says Mr Winnington. “The breeding policy is firmly based upon picking from the top female lines and the system has paid off, with 17 EX females identified at the most recent inspection.” The cows are testament to the longevity of the Dairy Shorthorn, with 12 to 13 lactations ‘not unusual’, says Mr Winnington. The herd calves all year round and has an average yield of 5,200-5,500kg at 3.9% and 3.4% protein, with milk sold to the local Wells Farm Dairy. “The lactation average for the herd is six to eight, but our oldest cow is 16 years old and still going strong”, says Mr Winnington. “The cattle are free from metabolic diseases and I think I have seen only one case of twisted stomach in my association with the breed. I rarely have to pick up a cow’s foot and their feet do not have to be trimmed on a routine basis. There is no requirement for a routine veterinary visit for fertility; we are perfectly content with our 360-370-day calving interval.” Heifers are calved at 28-30 months at present, but Mr Winnington has taken note of research indicating that milk producers should aim for 24 months, in order to maximise profitability. “There is not so much pressure to calve heifers early within an all-year-round calving policy, but they will be inseminated at a slightly younger age in the future, although the target will not be as low as 24 months,” he said. “A heifer calved at a young age will require additional feed and it will also command additional time and attention, so I am not fully convinced of the economic benefits.”

The all-grass unit is made up of a mixture of owned and rented land totalling about 137-hectares (340-acres). Situated at roughly 120-metres (400-feet) above sealevel, the soil is a fairly free-draining medium loam which allows for the grazing period to run from the beginning of March to December. During the short housing period, the cows are kept in cubicles and fed a simple diet of grass silage, topped up with concentrates offered in the 10:20 herringbone parlour. “The dry cows and youngstock were fully out-wintered until four years ago, when we had the opportunity to rent some buildings,” he says. “The housing does incur some additional costs, but it is useful as we are in a six-monthly testing area for TB.

Rantonall Songstress 50 EX95

“A combination of paddock and strip-grazing systems is adopted while the cows are at grass. These have traditionally been made up of perennial ryegrasses and white clover, but there are plans to include some herbal leys in the next round of reseeds. The farm does not currently have land in an environmental scheme, but the plan is to sign up for one next year. The herbal leys should help us to qualify for scheme membership and there have been a lot of reports that they have potential to benefit cow health.”

The Rantonall herd has a long history, having been registered in 1978 by Mr Winnington’s parents: John and the late Doreen. However the herd goes back even further, as his grandfather, William (Bill) Winnington, started milking the breed in 1933. Mr Winnington and his brother, Stanley, joined the partnership in the late 1980s and Moor End, which he now farms with wife, Debbie, was purchased to allow the two brothers to run their own businesses. Stanley and his wife Anne have also continued to milk Pedigree Dairy Shorthorns and although they have no involvement in cattle showing, the two separate businesses provide mutual help and support. Some of the recent changes in UK agriculture have boosted the popularity of the breed, he observes. “A number of dairy farmers are looking for a low-input cow which will thrive on a simple, grass-based regime and the Dairy Shorthorn fits the bill. My father was a huge fan, but he was very wise and let me experiment with other breeds; I quickly found that they did not fit in with the system. I would not consider a move away from the Dairy Shorthorn, because it does exactly what I want it to do on this farm.” Mr Winnington and his wife have two daughters: 17-yearold Grace is studying horticulture, while 15-year-old Naomi is keen on sheep and keeps a flock of Zwartbles. Part of his passion for judging Dairy Shorthorns is associated with encouraging the next generation, he says. At any one time the farm will employ one or more young people, many of whom remain in the industry after gaining dairy experience. “It is marvellous to see a five-year-old child, for example, leading a calf in the show ring and doing well,” he comments. “Another aspect is the delight in having a line of people facing you and knowing that their animals are their pride and joy; that applies whether the show is at national or local level. It is a privilege to be part of such a wonderful spectacle and judging also provides the opportunity to socialise with fellow enthusiasts. “We live close to a village and fortunately do quite well with attracting staff, although we put a lot of effort into creating the right environment and treating them well. It is very satisfying to see them go on to bigger and better things and hopefully becoming bitten by the ‘showing bug’ like I have.”