The 2017 winner of the John Dennison Lifetime Achievement Award, Mark Nutsford from the Riverdane herd in Cheshire, England. This year’s winner did not start off with 250 acres and 150 pedigree cows and an already well-known prefix. He began with a desire to learn about dairy cows by attending Agricultural College at Reaseheath in Yorkshire and quickly became obsessed. Born in North Yorkshire on the outskirts of Middlesbrough this year’s John Dennison recipient truly embodies what this award is all about. Over all the years I have known him, through success, failure, and hardship he has remained the same and always has time to speak with everyone whether you are the person running the scraper tractor or the person with the open checkbook wanting to buy that priceless animal.
The resounding feeling from the committee was that this year’s winner would go out of his way to help others. If you ask him for his last flake of hay for your cow, you can have it over his own. If you want advice on pre-show preparation that which will potentially see you win over him, he will freely give it. His infectious PASSION for great dairy cattle is always a pleasure to be around. His PASSION to help others and to improve the British Brand has been remarkable resulting in two very successful GB teams taking part in the last two European Shows.
A little history on this year award winner. After college, he got a job at Northsea Holsteins and under the guidance of Harold Nicholson quickly fell in love with showing cows before traveling to Saudi Arabia to work on a large scale dairy operation. While in Saudi he was asked to train in their Embryo Transfer division and returned to the UK to start working for Genus as an ET technician.
The obsession to own and develop great cows continued to grow and the TOPMARK prefix was registered with cows in partnership with other breeders and housed in numerous locations around the UK, the most notable cow from this era being the 95 point Topmark Rudolph Beauty. In 1999 our winner had the chance to buy Ravenscroft H Hall Farm in Cheshire and along with his wife Sue the Riverdane prefix was established. The rest I suppose is history – since then the Riverdane herd has bred or owned 63 All Britain nominations 3 EX97 pointed cows, 3 EX96, 8 EX95, 16 EX 2nd calvers & 12 VG89 two year olds. Show ring success has been phenomenal for Mark and the Riverdane herd with household names such as Sara, Adeen, Ashlyn, Beauty, Rose and who could forget Mattia to name just a few of the stars.
Currently Mark runs the successful Celltech Embryo Transfer Company as well as being a partner in Kingstreet Sires and ActIVF. His judging career has seen him travel around the world as well as judging most of the major shows in the UK & Ireland. Without Sue of course none of this or a lot less of this success would have been possible. Sue is his backbone. The person who keeps the ship sailing in the right direction and I know Mark appreciates everything she does when he is on the road.
I’m very confident if John Dennison was still with us that he would be proud to have Mark Nutsford’s name on this trophy. Two inspirational men with so many similar qualities apart however for their taste in football but we will leave that for another day.
I really think the words of the famous poem “IF” by Kipling are fitting and in so many ways describe Mark.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
This award is in honor of John Dennison who was a skilled dairy farmer, an excellent Holstein breeder, a marvelous motivator and an inspiration to all he came in contact with and above all his family came first. He was a superb marketer and promoter of the Holstein cow, and his enthusiasm and friendliness attracted many new people into our business. His legacy will live on through his sons Andrew, Michael and Stephen and his numerous grandchildren; some of whom have been competing at UK Dairy Expo this weekend. This award is designed to honor those qualities.
