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he Morcourt herd has its origins in the mid 1950s when our father started the Torcourt herd, after the family arrived in Gloucestershire from Queensland, Australia, having inherited the Estate from his uncle. I believe the foundation cows were purchased from a number of local herds, including Rendcomb.
T
The herd has had four homes on the Estate as initially vacant farms were improved and then re-let. In 1966 the herd moved for the second time to Talbots End Farm. In 1977 Helen and I took on the tenancy and the core of the herd but, because my father retained most of the young stock, the Morcourt prefix started. The youngstock were used to start a second herd
‘Moretoncourt’ on a different farm.
In 1999 the two herds, now totalling 500 cows, were brought back within the Estate Company as an enlarged in-hand business with two dairies. However, they maintained separate breeding policies; Morcourt being British Friesian and Moretoncourt as a mixed Holstein Friesian herd. In 2007 the complete 1000 acre in-hand business entered organic conversion. In the spring of 2008, the Morcourt herd made its most recent move to Elmtree Farm. This became the core of a single dairy 300 cow organic unit, while Talbots End became the young stock unit.
Then 2015 saw the start of contract farming within the dairy
unit, which introduced youth and new energy to the dairy. However, the Estate retains ownership of the cows and undertakes heifer rearing. Over the years, the herds, while pedigree, have remained commercial. Breeding influence has been varied over the years, but for Morcourt, it was not until the Breed Society introduced separate British Friesian Classification that a new enthusiasm to improve, developed. Many of the original cow families are still with us; several with more than 200 family members. Morcourt Tina 81 will obviously always be special, as our first Excellent cow and as the dam of Morcourt Hilton, the first British Friesian bull to go over PLI 200.
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