Shropshire-bred Holstein wins prestigious award


A Shropshire-bred Holstein cow has won a major award at one of Italy’s most prestigious events – being named Grand Champion at the 68th National Italian Show, Cremona. Now owned by Errera


Holsteins, Wyndford Atwood Grey 90 was originally bred by Wilfred Maddocks Ltd of Chadwell Grange, Newport, before the pedigree Wyndford Holsteins herd was dispersed in 2017. She was purchased by Er- rera after being chosen as a two-year-old by Holstein UK to represent the UK at the 2016 European Holstein Show in Colmar, France. She was named Grand Champion at Cremona in October 2019. “This is obviously a major


prize in Europe by a Shrop- shire-bred animal,” said Da- vid Maddocks. Although the Wyndford Herd was dispersed in 2017, many of the animals have gone on to win at major shows in the UK and Ireland, he added. David’s son Richard is now


in charge of the business. Today it focuses on potatoes and ara-


ble crops, with some land let out for salad production run by eldest son Philip. PDM grows and packs spinach and lettuce for some of the UK’s biggest retailers.


Since the dispersal sale, Philip has developed a pedigree Wagyu herd via embryos from around the world. The Wagyu are housed in the old dairy buildings.


Mitigate wet pasture challenge to overwintered pregnant stock


High rainfall and saturated pas- tures conditions mean livestock producers should consider sup- plementary feeding out-wintered suckler cows and ewes. Rainfall has been so substan- tial that some sheep and beef cat- tle are grazing little more than green water, says Alison Bond, nutritionist for Rumenco. “Grass may look plentiful at the moment, but in these conditions, it is typ- ically extremely wet and of low quality.”


High moisture content will in- hibit pregnant cattle and sheep from consuming enough dry mat- ter to meet intake and nutrient demands during pregnancy. But supplementing pastures with poor quality forage or straw can help to resolve this. “Assessing grazed and sup-


tained ahead of lambing or calv- ing. Adding unnecessary weight during mid to late gestation will predispose livestock to metabol- ic issues.


Feeding low quality forage or straw should be balanced with enough protein


plemented forage for quality and quantity will help determine how much additional dry matter is needed,” explains Dr Bond. For livestock of adequate body condition at breeding, for- age should be low in energy to ensure body condition is main-


While feeding low quality for- age or straw can provide rumen fill, it should be balanced with protein, vitamins and minerals. An effective way to do this is to feed a high protein mineral block or low moisture bucket to help intake and utilisation of rough grazing.


This will provide adequate protein supplementation while also delivering essential vitamins and trace elements that tend to be diluted in high moisture for- age. “This includes trace elements like selenium, cobalt and zinc that are essential during foetal devel- opment.”


Wyndford Atwood Grey 90 at the 68th National Italian Show, Cremona [photo credit: Claire Swale]


BVD survey offers chance to win bluetooth speaker


Readers have the chance to win a bluetooth speaker – thanks to the fifth annual bovine vi- ral diarrhoea survey.


The annual BVD survey gathers information from all parts of the UK and all types of farming system to gain a snap- shot of what livestock produc- ers are doing on their farm to control and eradicate the dis- ease.


Answering the survey takes just a few minutes. The survey closes on 31 January and 10 lucky entrants will be selected to win an Ultimate Ears Boom 3 Bluetooth Waterproof Speak- er. For full details, visit www. bvdsurvey.co.uk.


JANUARY 2020 • MIDLAND FARMER 35


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