The Sloan family from Darnlaw Farm, Cumnock, Ayrshire, has been a warded the UK’s most prestigious dairy industry award, The NMR RABDF Gold Cup (National Milk Records & Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers) The award was presented to Robert Sloan and his wife, Emma, on behalf of the Sloan family at a presentation ceremony at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.
The NMR RABDF Gold Cup recognises la-crème-de-la-crème of British dairying and the award is the culmination of 47-years of pedigree Holstein cattle breeding according to Robert Sloan. He said: “It’s a tremendous honour to be awarded the Gold Cup and something we did not envisage happening when my father moved into pedigree Holsteins during the 1970s. However, its’s a dream come true for the family and our dedicated staff.”
The Sloan family run two dairy enterprises; a Holstein herd under the Townlaw prefix and a recent Jersey herd addition under the Darnlaw prefix. The 190-cow Holstein herd averages 11,910kgs milk at 3.99% fat and 3.14% protein with the Holstein section being milked through three robots. Cell count recordings are 116,000 and 79,000 for Holsteins and Jerseys, respectively.
Four years ago, the Sloan family introduced Jersey animals into the business in order to fulfil a milk contract opportunity with Scottish milk-buyer, Graham’s Dairies. To supply the contract, thirty Jersey heifers were imported from Denmark alongside 25 animals from renowned UK herds. The 60-cow Jersey herd currently averages 7,115 kgs at 6.05% fat and 4.00% protein.
The Townlaw and Darnlaw herds are fed Mole Valley Feeds, from the company’s new £6million mill at neighbouring Coylton. Robert comments: “Mole Valley Farmers’ feeds are high in quality and extremely consistent. It’s important to have a top-quality ration and having a ‘hard’ concentrate nut being fed through the robotic system. This helps entice the cows to visit the robot to get milked on at least three to four occasions per day.
“The Jerseys are milked on a traditional twice per-day routine and receive Mole Valley Feeds through the milking parlour. The Jersey herd is housed in a separate cubicle-housing system and bedded with rubber matting and sawdust. Correct nutrition; cow comfort and animal health and welfare are important considerations as part of our overall management strategy,” he said.
Commenting on the award, Mole Valley Farmers CEO Andrew Jackson said: “On behalf of the company, I’d like to congratulate the Sloan family on winning the prestigious NMR RABDF Gold Cup. As a local Coylton-based supplier, we are delighted to be associated with the family’s outstanding success and look forward to our continued involvement.”
Robert pays particular attention to the breeding-programme with Holsteins targeted for 24months age-at-first calving. North American genomic sires are predominantly used across the herd and including Pharo; Bloomfield, Tatoo, and Secretariat. Jerseys heifers freshen at 23-months with the Sloan’s own home-bred Jersey animals now coming on-line states Robert.
“We use sexed Jersey semen and tend to buy a large batch from one particular sire for predominant use. We’ve used a lot of FDL Barcelona as he’s got good type, increases production and offers positive percentages. We’ve got 16 heifers in the pipeline – and we’ve also used another Barnabas son, River Valley Victorious.”
The Sloan family; Bryce, Anne and son, Robert and his wife, Emma, farm in partnership under the Bryce Sloan company name. Eight years ago, the family invested in a “state-of-the-art” greenfield dairy facility incorporating the latest technology. The unit includes automatic-scrapers and fully integrated computerised technology for milk-recording and animal-health management.
The past two-years have resulted in further business investment with a specialist calf-rearing unit being built. The building is high, wide, light and airy and incorporates automatic milk-feeders. In 2018, the family also received another accolade by being awarded the prestigious status of “Master Breeder” by breed society, Holstein UK. The Townlaw Holstein herd currently comprises 43 Excellent and 74 Very Good cows.
