LEFT The Shawdale herd won the Exhibitor Bred Group of Three at the 2009 Great Yorkshire Show.
RIGHT One of the herd’s current stars is Shawdale Jackson Pamela, an EX91 third calver. She is from the herd’s most successful cow family as well.
Booths have been fortunate to have the same night time milker over the last 17 years during the seven month winter, with the swap to twice a day coinciding with turnout.
LEAD AT SHAWDALE
FEMALE FAMILIES
David and Margaret Booth run their Shawdale herd in a challenging
environment, where they’ve managed to produce four outstanding daughters in addition to a herd they can be proud of, as Sarah Liddle reports
ilking 120 cows that average 11,184 kg on a farm 1175 feet above sea level in a severely disadvantaged area (SDA) is no mean feat. The farm has super views looking out to Lancashire in the West and Yorkshire in the East. It is here nearly 30 years ago that the Shawdale prefix was registered by David and Margaret Booth. Since then not only has the farm evolved but also the family, daughters Helen, Diane, Claire and Jennie have come along. Each has a common appreciation of farming and the drive to succeed; their results in both YFC and HYB, especially in stockjudging, have been phenomenal as many other competitors will know to their cost!
M
“Pushing for a high herd average about 18 years ago was our way of maximising milk production from the farm”, says David, who farmed in partnership with his three brothers and father until 1992. With just Margaret and himself to run the farm, herd expansion was not possible, so instead the decision was taken to milk three times a day in winter and twice a day in summer. As Margaret says, three times a day milking did make it easier to collect the girls from school, cook tea and spend time as a family as well. The
All the girls remember, in the dim and distant past, judging a side of cows in the parlour with Dad during milking and giving reasons for their placings. Jokingly someone comments that last one up and out of the house on a morning had to do the housework, another says it was a fight to get one of only three pairs of overalls, and it becomes apparent that David and Margaret have four very bright, articulate and slightly competitive girls! Helen, 30, is the eldest daughter and after a degree at the University of Lancaster she trained as an accountant with KPMG. She is now married to Gavin Herd and together with son Thomas they run the Hebden herd of 50 cows at Hebden near Skipton. Helen is exerting her pedigree background and the herd is due to start classifying soon. Gavin and Helen are especially proud of an EX94
tenth calve Genus Eisenhower
daughter. Helen now works for H&M Accountants in Skipton where she first experienced accountancy on school work experience, as well as helping out Gavin and his dad on the Dales farm. Helen’s accolades in stockjudging would fill a book, but she has twice won both the
28 THE JOURNAL JUNE 2010
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